


The Game

by Deep_Redd



Series: When You Think It's All Over [1]
Category: Yugioh
Genre: Cheesy, F/M, I Don't Even Know
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-08-24
Updated: 2016-09-25
Packaged: 2018-08-10 20:32:45
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 15
Words: 33,448
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/7860133
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Deep_Redd/pseuds/Deep_Redd
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>When Kia Boulevarde moves to Domino City after years of being tossed from orphanage to orphanage, she isn't prepared for the sudden attention she receives from THE Seto Kaiba.<br/>But she suddenly begins to have strange dreams about him, in which he hurts her or betrays her in some way or another. These dreams leave her feeling nauseous and downright uncomfortable in his presence. In short, she becomes afraid of him.<br/>It couldn't have anything to do with the fact that she's living with Yami Bakura... Or could it? </p>
<p>Reposted and changed dramatically from FF.Net. Hopefully I've improved it.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. One Fine Day

**Author's Note:**

> I decided to download this story from my FF.Net page and rewrite it, hopefully improving the horror that was my fifteen year old self trying to play author. If you decide to find the original, God help you. It is terrible. Truly terrible.  
> And if you have travelled here from the original, welcome to the revamped version! This will make a lot more sense, and hopefully make for a better read!  
> There will be some Gaelic Irish in this story. I wrote it while studying for my exams a few years ago, and have used as much information as I could from the course I studied. I will post translations and explanations in my notes throughout the chapters, don't worry!   
> Sorry for the rambling, I do that a lot.

It was the beginning of a beautiful day in Domino; the sun was breaking through the thin clouds in the sky and began to illuminate the dull grey walls of Domino High School. Seto Kaiba sat in the homeroom, working obliviously on his laptop, when Kia walked in. She had been in the class for a while now, nearly six months, but she still wasn’t used to the state of the school. This particular room was designed so that the paired desks made up three rows of five, allowing room for thirty students. Kia knew that only just over half of those seats would be filled when the bell finally tolled.

Each and every one of the desks had been chipped or marked in some form or another, and the slight cushion one should find on the hard seats had been ripped clean off ages ago. She sighed at the sorry sight, but comparing it to the orphanage made it look like a palace. Taking her seat by the window at the far side of the room, Kia took her Gaelic Irish book from her bag and began to read, waiting for class to begin. As soon as she began chapter three, Yugi and his friends entered the room, laughing and chattering loudly, earning themselves a dissatisfied grunt from the young man sitting in the corner. Joey ran over to Kia straight away, excitement apparent in his every step.

"Kia!" He called out, manoeuvring around the desks frantically. She rolled her eyes and muttered something to herself, before closing the book and turning to face them all.

"Morning…" was her reply. She smirked slightly at Yugi. Of the group, she tolerated him the best. She had no patience for either Joey or Tristan, who were much too eager to ask her to accompany them out. She hadn’t any time for that.

Tristan had been looking at her book with interest, before walking over and asking casually; "Are you seriously still studying that stuff?" Kia refrained from rolling her eyes again and sighed, having already had to explain this to them several times.

“I used to live there Tristan, I want to remember the language and the culture. To stay connected to home.” Yugi and Téa nodded in understanding, whereas Joey and Tristan looked somewhat confused.

Shaking his head, Tristan spoke up once more. "I heard that an Irish movie has come to Domino City, perhaps you'd like to-"

"No, thank you Tristan" she refused the offer while putting her hand up in objection. How many times had he asked her now? It was getting more than a little annoying having Joey and Tristan asking her out all the time. She always said no, so why did they keep asking?

  
Across the room, Kaiba's laptop sat untouched for some-time upon the table, his hands clasped together above the keys in concentration, as he listened to their conversation. He couldn't call it eavesdropping, they were talking so loud that the juniors downstairs probably heard Kia's life-story.  
Tristan seemed to be highly offended with her answer, and Kia panicked at the idea of him doing or saying something hurtful. She quickly tried to justify her reply, telling him that she didn’t feel like going out to a movie with a friend, and his face paled even more.

  
Kaiba noted that it was at the mention of the word ‘friend’ that Tristan became angry, and also took note of Kia’s quickly sinking confidence. She looked uncomfortable in the midst of Yugi's group of friends, and Kaiba didn’t blame her. When Joey began moving stealthily toward the chair next to Kia, Kaiba stood quietly and made his way over to the group.

  
"’Ow 'bout going ou' with me? And not as friends..." Joey suggested cheesily, offering a smile that should have been reassuring, but it made Kia even more uncomfortable. His hand barely touched the chair as Kia began to answer him.

  
"No Joey, I don't feel like dating…” Her mumbled reply trailed off as the chair beside her was pulled backwards fluidly, and Kaiba's lean body appeared from out of nowhere.

He turned toward Joey, who was leaning close to the chair, meaning to sit in it before Kaiba decided to, and snarled; “Get out of my breathing space, Mutt.” Joey jumped backwards quickly, glaring at Kaiba and silently cursing him for taking the seat beside Kia. She looked at him in confusion, wondering why he had suddenly appeared by her side.

  
"So you know Gaelic Irish?" He suddenly queried her. Kia nodded, slightly confused. "I want to offer you a private tutoring position with my younger brother, provided that you are competent enough to teach him about Ireland and its language" he continued.

  
Jaws dropped. Kia stared at him in amazement, once again wondering why this particular young man, who usually ignored her as well as his other peers, was suddenly offering her a job. Yugi merely frowned at Kaiba, wondering what he was trying to do, while Joey and Tristan argued mentally over who could ask Kia out, again. Téa appraised Kaiba silently, before boldly deciding to ask Kaiba a question.

  
"What a curious offer, Kaiba. But why would Mokuba need to know Gaelic Irish?" She cocked her head to the side as she spoke, earning herself a calculating stare from her addressee. He then directed his attention back to Kia, fixing her with a similar look.

  
"The future of Kaiba Corp. will be in his capable hands one day. It helps to know more than a few languages when dealing internationally" he explained, without turning away from her. Kia blushed from all the attention, suddenly realising that Kaiba was waiting for her to speak. She swallowed uneasily and decided to ask what she thought to be important.

  
"How much money would you be willing to pay me?" Her timidity was beginning to annoy Kaiba, but he knew it was because of Joey and Tristan. He decided to try to put her at ease, smirking as he replied.

  
"That depends on how well you teach him.” And she blushed once more, thinking over this strange ordeal. Yugi had been watching from his position across the room, and was now wondering why Kaiba was acting strange. Seto Kaiba was never nice to anyone. Even when offering them a job, it seemed more like he was offering employees a contract in hell. He was so deep in thought that he nearly missed the continued conversation.

  
"Alright, I accept your offer." Kia smirked back at Kaiba, whose smirk became more pronounced in response. She liked the idea of teaching someone else her native language, and the fact that it would be Seto Kaiba’s younger brother… It was surreal.

  
“You start tomorrow evening, at seven. I’ll have Mokuba ready.”

  
"Uh, okay…" she mumbled in reply. If she were honest, Kia was nervous about teaching Kaiba’s younger brother. And having Kaiba around while she was tutoring? That thought didn’t help put her at ease.

  
When the bell tolled at long last, Kia noticed that Kaiba wasn’t moving back to his usual seat. His laptop and suitcase were by his feet, and Kaiba had his book in his hands, reading something as the teacher walked in. Class began, and Kia almost missed a note that Yugi handed to her from behind.

  
_"Did you notice Kaiba's weird behaviour?_  
 _~Yugi"_

  
Kia read it, confused for a moment, but tried to keep it hidden from Kaiba’s line of vision. She scribbled back regardless and passed it back to Yugi, trying to be careful and not let the teacher see her doing so.

  
Kia was unaware that Kaiba had seen the note. It pissed him off, but Kia’s reply had him trying to stop himself from snickering.  
_"Not at all. I was surprised by his offer to be quite honest Yugi but apart from that, he seemed like his normal self ;) ~ Kia"_

  
Yugi puzzled over this reply until the bell at the end of class rang out. The most puzzling thing about the reply was the semi-colon and bracket the end. At the break in the lesson, Yugi walked back over to Kia’s desk, ignoring Kaiba who was working diligently on his laptop once again. Kia had her face hidden within her book, and Yugi had to grasp the top of it and pry it away from her.

  
"Your reply was confusing." His hushed whisper confused Kia, and she held out a hand, motioning for him to stop talking.

  
"Cut me some slack Yugi, I've only been here six months, so I barely know the guy." She waited for him to reply, to nod or do something. But he furrowed his eyebrows and thought over what she said silently, before responding with a less than adequate answer.

  
"I see..."

 

* * *

 

After school, she walked the forty-minute walk home alone. Of the three windows at the front of the orphanage, two were boarded up, probably after being on the receiving end of some stones thrown by young teens, and the red-bricks were falling out of the walls like teeth. Ivy scaled the walls, holding whatever it could in place with its shallow roots. It was a dreary place to live, but it was her only place to live.

  
The building was divided into the ground-floor and first-floor, the ground floor having a living room, a small kitchen (where she spent most of her time after school) and a dining room. The second floor had all the dorm rooms and Kia's small private room. Unbeknownst to the younger children, the owner of the orphanage had a small attic room where she had her privacy from the children. Nobody but Kia knew of that secret room, and occasionally if she felt low, she was allowed to go up there for a while to read in peace.

  
All of the ground floor rooms were bare, with cheap wooden panelling on the walls and floors, a cheap TV set in the living room and old mouldy beanbags to sit on. The old armchair in the room was only used by Ms Greene, the elderly orphanage owner who could barely stand anymore, let alone look after small children. The kitchen was cornered off from the living room by half a plasterboard wall and kept a small fridge, cooker and wooden countertop. It wasn't very hygienic and Kia was surprised at the government's lack of response to those conditions. Surely someone from the health board had to approve this place? The dining room had a small wooden table and seven rickety chairs, a definite health hazard for those who sat in them.

  
She entered through the remains of the front door and made her way into her room. In one corner there was a small bed, and in the other there was a small desk for her homework. Despite the fact that she had been living there for only a few months, the desk and bed were in bad shape from misuse, due to other children using them. The old pine frames were chipped or scored and the bed itself creaked with the tiniest of movements, which sometimes kept her awake at night. She had a small trunk where she kept all her possessions, including her clothes, at the end of the bed.

  
She changed into a plain red t-shirt and black jeans before going back downstairs to cook the dinner for the eleven other children staying there, oblivious to the white haired man staring at her bedroom window deep in thought.

 

* * *

 

  
Ryou Bakura was not happy. His usually brown eyes were cast in a red glow as he sat in his living room and thought about what he had seen that day at school. Kia Boulevard had been sitting in her misery, waiting for the class to begin and for the dull repetition that was her life to continue, when that flow was interrupted by Seto Kaiba. And what did he do? He offered her a job. A damn _job_.

  
A job would complicate things. A job would bring meaning into her feeble life. A job would give her a sense of purpose, and he couldn’t have her feeling uplifted. Bakura seethed and tried to contain himself. He couldn’t let his Hikari know that he had returned, and destroying his pathetic excuse for a home would definitely alert him to his presence. He sighed, bringing a hand to his forehead as he sat and thought everything over.

  
Ryou Bakura’s Yami had returned, using the power drawn from Kia Boulevard’s dismal life to give him sustenance. In this way, he had managed to find a home within Ryou once again, but undetected by the white-haired boy and giving himself a chance of carrying out his work without having to deal with his Hikari’s gentle nature.

  
But this also meant posing as the gentle teenager while in control of him. And that was draining him. Following Kia home every evening from home to ensure she was safe was fine, but when he returned to Ryou’s home and gave the control back to him, Ryou was confused as to why he blacking out. ‘It wasn’t healthy’ he would exclaim aloud, while deliberating whether or not he should see a doctor about the blackouts.

  
Bakura closed his eyes and sighed. Kaiba was now in the picture. What had he to gain from Kia? He didn’t need her for anything, so why was he being so kind to her? Deliberating this, Bakura moved into the darkest confines of Ryou’s mind, relinquishing control to Ryou and watching in mild amusement as Ryou looked down at his hands in shock.

  
“It happened again…”


	2. The Kaiba Mansion

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> When Kia Boulevarde moves to Domino City after years of being tossed from orphanage to orphanage, she isn't prepared for the sudden attention she receives from THE Seto Kaiba.  
> But she suddenly begins to have strange dreams about him, in which he hurts her or betrays her in some way or another. These dreams leave her feeling nauseous and downright uncomfortable in his presence. In short, she becomes afraid of him.  
> It couldn't have anything to do with the fact that she's living with Yami Bakura... Or could it?
> 
> Reposted and changed dramatically from FF.Net. Hopefully I've improved it.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Even though I've edited this story to high heaven, it's still cringey to read through as I post it. The plotline is good, but the actual content moves too fast for my liking. I hope it looks okay to those reading it.

Kia walked the hour-long journey to the Kaiba Mansion from the orphanage the next evening.

By the time she saw the big iron gates in the distance, her feet were aching from the long walk in such terrible shoes. The orphanage lacked proper funding, meaning that she and the other children received poor quality food and clothing. She contemplated this as she approached the gates, left slightly ajar, and slipped into the grounds. Walking up to the large wooden door, she carefully pulled on the tail of the Blue Eyes White Dragon doorbell and listened carefully. Kaiba opened the door a moment later.

"Kia Boulevard, you're a few minutes early." He looked down at his watch as he spoke, looking back up at her after confirming that she was indeed early. She smirked at him, feeling as though she should bow to him or something weird like that. She decided not to, but looked down at her feet in embarrassment.

"Yes, I do try to be early or on time, for any occasion." Kaiba stood aside and let her into the house as she spoke, looking around herself in awe. "It's a concept I have in my head. It's much better to be a few minutes early rather than a few minutes late..."

Kaiba watched her carefully as she entered his home, and studied her words for a moment before agreeing with her. He then closed the door and led her through the foyer, passed several doors, and into a kitchen.

"Mokuba will be down in a moment. I want to know what you'll be teaching him and how you'll do it." Kaiba moved to and sat on a high chair at the breakfast bar, motioning for her to do the same. As she sat down, she had a look around their lavish kitchen.

The walls were a forest green colour all around the room, with a deeper green coloured tile above the appliances. The floor tiles were designed to look like oak wood, which gave the room a more homely feel. The cupboards and counter sides were real oak wood and the counter-top was green marble. The breakfast bar was designed in the same fashion, the cushioned seats being green to match the rest of the room.

The spotlights above them shone onto the various areas about the room. Six pointing at the counter-top that ran along two and a half walls in the room, another in the middle to point at the island, yet another pointing to the breakfast bar where they sat and two more pointing at the dark green stove on the opposite end of the room. Kia thought of the dreary brown kitchen back at the orphanage, devoid of any light and hygiene.

"Well, the Gaelic Irish exam in Ireland is divided into two levels, Higher and Ordinary. Ordinary is very basic Irish whereas Higher is advanced Irish. And I doubt Mokuba has learnt any Irish before so..." Kia was very precise in how she answered him. Even if she didn’t know Kaiba for very long, she was still clever enough to realise he was a very intelligent young man, who wasted no time in getting what he wanted. Kaiba seemed very relaxed as she spoke, pouring fresh orange juice into a glass and offering it to her. She took it gratefully, thanking him as she did.

"He had a year's worth of tutoring from a psychotic Irishman last year" Kaiba offered casually after a moment of silence between the two. Kia had just taken a sip of her drink as he spoke, nearly spitting it everywhere at his choice of wording.

"A _psychotic_ Irishman?!" Kia burst out laughing as soon as she had successfully swallowed her juice. Placing the glass on the bar carefully, she giggled uncontrollably and hid her face from his view. Despite covering her face and irritating him slightly, Kaiba smirked. He liked her laugh and found that he wanted to make her laugh even more.

"Precisely, Miss Boulevard" he said, watching as he swirled the juice in his glass. He couldn't seem to look at her without smirking. Ever since she had arrived six months ago, he found himself smirking more at school and even at home, when he dared to think about her.

"Well in that case, I'll have to assess his level before we start anything…" Calming down from her fit of laughter, Kia took an exam paper from her small bag and placed it on the bar. "I had a feeling I'd need this test today.” Just then, Mokuba walked into the room and looked between them, a look of confusion on his features. Realisation dawned on his face and he immediately smiled a bright smile, holding out a hand toward Kia.

"Oh, uh, good evening Miss Kia Boulevard?" Kia smirked at him and took his hand, shaking it firmly. She was silently comparing this warm hearted young man to his older brother, and wondering how they were both so different. Mokuba had raven-black hair, and big grey eyes that seemed to demand attention. Even his smile was different to Kaiba, but then again, the older Kaiba only ever smirked.

"You can call me Kia. Permission to call you Mokuba, young sir?" was her slightly cheeky reply. Mokuba’s already beaming smile became wider as he appraised her, excited to find that Kia was playful and sweet, not at all like his other tutors.

"Permission granted!” As soon as his hand was free, he saluted her as though he were saluting a commanding officer. Kia giggled at his display, before taking the exam paper from the bar and showing it to him.

“So I was just telling your brother here how things work in Ireland. You need to do this test so that I’ll know how good your Gaelic Irish actually is. Then we can work out a lesson plan. Does that sound okay?” At Mokuba’s determined nod, Kia smiled and continued on. “This test has three parts to it. You need to do all three as best you can. No cheating!”

He scoffed as he took the paper from her, as though he were offended that she thought he would do such a thing. Nodding to both his new tutor and his older sibling, Mokuba strolled into the adjoining dining room smoothly, taking a seat and looking at the test paper. Before long, he was scribbling furiously onto a notepad he had found elsewhere, his brow furrowed in concentration.

From what Kia could see, the dining room was every bit as fancy as the kitchen was, with dark walls that might have been grey or navy, and a long oak table. Kia wondered if the Kaiba family had a fascination with oak wood, while noting that there was plenty of light illuminating the dining table, where Mokuba was doing his exam.

“Well, I suppose you’ll want to wait on while Mokuba completes the exam.” Kia looked back toward Kaiba as he spoke, uncertain of whether or not she should accept his offer. Distantly, she gazed at her shoes, wondering if she should stay after all. Kaiba followed her gaze and frowned at the condition her shoes were in. Surely they couldn’t be very comfortable to walk in?

“I… Wouldn’t want to put you or Mokuba out…” Her mumbled reply was barely heard in the large kitchen, with Kaiba just barely making out the sound of her voice. She was thinking of the long trip back to the orphanage, which was nearly on the other end of town. Although she didn’t mind walking, the distance was off-putting and she could already feel blisters forming on her feet. He shook his head, aggravated that he would have to convince her to stay.

"I insist."

"Um, pardon?" Kia frowned in confusion, looking up to face him. Yugi and his friends always described Kaiba as a ruthless, cold-hearted gamer who only did things that would benefit himself. She had seen many examples of such behaviour when she first arrived, but those occurrences became more and more scarce the more attention she paid to him. Now though, he was being courteous and downright strange. Perhaps Yugi was right, Kaiba was acting unusual.

Kaiba, on the other hand, was surprised by her reply. "Did I say something wrong?" His head tilted slightly in genuine puzzlement. He had assumed he was being polite in letting her stay in his home while Mokuba completed the exam she had given him. Had he been too imposing?

Kia studied him for a few moments, her eyebrows knitting together as she contemplated his behaviour. "Are you feeling alright Kaiba?" she eventually inquired with an unsteady voice, suddenly worried that he would take offence and get angry. Kaiba straightened up in his seat slightly, frowning as he did.

“Yes I am. Why?” Kaiba was mystified. And he didn’t like being ignorant to the situation. He suddenly realised that he was being courteous and his eyes widened slightly, as he puzzled over what he was trying to do. Why had he asked her to stay? Why did he want her to stay? If she were anyone else, he would have sent her on her way, or maybe even fired her by now. Why was _she_ so different?

Kia watched Kaiba carefully as he pondered his thoughts, lost in a trance. She immediately felt uncomfortable, and attempted to break him from his thoughts in order to break the awkward atmosphere. "Uh Kaiba? You're acting really unusual now, maybe I should..."

At this, Kaiba turned toward her and silenced her with an intense stare. “Apologies, my mind was elsewhere. You seem uncomfortable.” She stared back at him in confusion, wondering what on earth was going on. Kaiba stood from the breakfast bar and motioned for Kia to follow him, leading her out into the foyer. She honestly thought that he was going to show her out, and she thought of the way home, wondering if there was a well-lit route for her to take. Instead, he led her into one of the sets of double doors that they had passed on their way in, revealing a stunning living room.

The walls were cream in colour with a golden trim, and the long shaggy carpet was a rich caramel colour. The couches in the room were off-white with golden edging and there was a caramel chaise-long in one corner. In the other three corners, there were bookshelves full of DVDs and a TV set, attached to a DVD player. Kia gazed at the beautiful décor and thought back to the barely adequate conditions in the orphanage. The chandelier above her head shone a beautiful full light around the room, reminding her of the basic light bulbs with wires fully revealed back home.

"Take a seat, make yourself comfortable." Kaiba moved to stand by the perfectly varnished fireplace, where a small but cosy fire was burning. Kia looked down at her shoes uneasily, before moving to one of the couches and perching herself delicately on the very edge of the seat. Kaiba frowned impatiently. "You can sit properly."

"Um, but I uh..." Kia stumbled over her words, trying to think of a way to express herself properly. She couldn’t very well state that she felt dirty, that could be perceived in several different ways. Rather, she didn’t feel _established_ enough to it on Kaiba’s furniture. But there was no other way for her to say it.

Kaiba watched her with concern evident in his eyes. Kia cringed, knowing that this was also unusual behaviour for him and she sighed as he asked if she was feeling alright. "I don't feel comfortable sitting on such clean upholstery Kaiba..." She smiled slightly at him, blushing as she spoke. He took his time looking over her, his eyes sweeping cross her thin frame with ease.

"You don't look unkempt Miss Boulevard. I don't see a problem arising from you sitting properly on my couch." His smirk returned when she looked at him in disbelief, but still refused to sit properly on the coach. He moved toward her and for a heart-stopping moment, Kia felt certain her was going to grab her and lead her outside. She wasn’t fully sure why he hadn’t already thrown her out, but was still expecting it to happen.

She wasn’t prepared for when his fingertips made contact with her shoulders and pushed her backwards into her seat. Kia didn’t resist or push back against him, and allowed herself to be moved backwards. “Don’t make yourself uncomfortable for the sake of my ridiculously coloured couch.” His explanation left his lips as he moved back to the fireplace, hands in his pockets, watching the flames as they danced in the air.

She was at a loss at what to say in response. Or should she even speak at all? She didn’t know what she was still doing in the Kaiba mansion, or what she was doing making small talk with Kaiba. And she was confused. Kaiba was acting strangely, Yugi was completely correct about that. But on one hand, Kia didn’t mind. He was acting… Nice. In a weird way…

Kaiba checked his watch nonchalantly after staring at the flames for a few moments, completely oblivious to Kia’s thoughts. He half turned to face her as he spoke quietly, curiously, enquiring what time she would usually eat at. "It's quarter to eight, when do you usually have tea?”

She was silently shocked that she had been there for over forty minutes. It really didn’t feel like that long at all. Mokuba would be finished in another half hour or so, and Kia felt a little worried about having to walk home in the dark. The children in the orphanage flashed through her mind when he mentioned food, and she wondered idly if Ms Greene was able to cook for them. "About half seven to be honest, but I..." She was stopped by a hand raised by Kaiba in objection.

"You're a guest in my house Miss Boulevard, it would be rude for me to send you away during a meal. I'll be back in a moment." He smirked and left the room quietly, leaving Kia alone to wander around the room. She was gob-smacked to put it bluntly, wondering what Kaiba had eaten earlier in the week to make him act this way. She wasn’t used to anyone calling her ‘Miss Boulevard’, least of all Kaiba, but he refused to call her anything different.

Standing carefully from the couch, she made her way over to one of the many shelves lining the walls and decided to have a look at the neatly arranged DVDs. He had several under the label ‘Action’, including the ‘Die-Hard’ movies and even more under the ‘Horror’ label, which Kia thought as odd. One label caught her eye and caused her to giggle, reading ‘Mildly disturbing, borderline entertaining’ and finding a number of Tim Burton movies beneath it. The shelf labelled ‘Mokuba’s favourites’ had several of her own childhood movies on the line-up, and she giggled once more when she saw that Kaiba only had one DVD on his shelf.

"I'm not that interested in movies to be quite honest..." Kaiba's voice suddenly came from behind her, and she jumped backwards in surprise. Kaiba’s hands caught onto her shoulders reflexively and held her still, watching as her expression change from pure shock to recognition. “Are you alright?” 

"Oh my gosh... I wasn't expecting you to sneak up on me... Don't do that again..." she gasped, holding a hand to her chest, trying to calm herself. Kaiba released her shoulders after turning her around, facing her toward yet _another_ door that led back into the dining room.

"My apologies Miss Boulevard, I'll try not to _'sneak up on you'_ again." His tone dropped to a mocking one as he reused her words, making Kia giggle once more. But something wasn’t right. This wasn’t like Kaiba, not at all. She looked back at him, eyeing him wearily as she asked him again, slowly, if he was feeling alright.

Kaiba couldn’t comprehend why she kept asking him the same question over and over. As he led her to the dining room, he answered her truthfully, hoping that she would accept his answer this time. He didn’t want to have to keep assuring her; that would be tedious and downright annoying.

“I’ve never felt better.” The words left his mouth before he could stop them, and he realised that he was smirking again. Kia seemed to notice too, because a small smile returned to her face and she followed him eagerly through the dining room and into the kitchen.

She was still smiling when she left the mansion nearly an hour later.


	3. Deep Contemplation

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> When Kia Boulevarde moves to Domino City after years of being tossed from orphanage to orphanage, she isn't prepared for the sudden attention she receives from THE Seto Kaiba.  
> But she suddenly begins to have strange dreams about him, in which he hurts her or betrays her in some way or another. These dreams leave her feeling nauseous and downright uncomfortable in his presence. In short, she becomes afraid of him.  
> It couldn't have anything to do with the fact that she's living with Yami Bakura... Or could it?
> 
> Reposted and changed dramatically from FF.Net. Hopefully I've improved it.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Yes, I'm currently updating on a daily basis. I want to have this corrected and posted as soon as possible. I go back to college soon, so it will be one less hassle on my mind.   
> Coupled with the fact that this story has a sequel. A sequel that needs to be entirely rewritten.  
> If you see any glaring mistakes, in my writing or the plot, please don't hesitate to let me know.  
> Also, I refer to the 'good' Ryou Bakura as Ryou, and the Thief King as Bakura in this story. Just in case it wasn't clear enough in the story.  
> Thanks much! x

Kia was correcting Mokuba's test the following day in the homeroom when Kaiba strolled in at ten minutes passed eight. Kaiba was always the first person in the room, usually doing so to choose a suitable place to sit and continue on with his work from Kaiba Corporation in peace. The past two days, however, he had sat beside Kia at her seat near the front of the class. He halted in his tracks when he saw Kia already at the desk, taking in her tired expression before moving toward her again.

"You’re in early.” It was a sly comment, almost as though he were implying something. Kia sighed and then giggled softly, thinking of the children she had left behind that day.

"There were three sick children this morning at the orphanage, it was either come to school early or stay back all day and play nurse..." She was feeling slightly guilty. She knew Ms Greene was much too old to help them, but she just couldn't stay there all day long and tend to them. She was the eldest in the orphanage, but that didn’t mean that she had to mind everyone by herself.

Kaiba sucked in a breath and looked toward her, puzzled. “Orphanage?” He realised he knew absolutely nothing about this intelligent brunette beside him, apart from what he heard from her in class and the fact that she had Irish origins.

Kia silently looked up from the paper she was correcting, but refused to meet his gaze. "Yes, orphanage. I'm an orphan..." she mumbled quietly, just loud enough for Kaiba to hear. His metaphorical hackles raised and goose-bumps formed on his skin, as he remembered the hardship of living in the dreary place. He fell into a trance as he recalled living as an orphan, having to protect Mokuba and to find a way for them to live more at ease.

Ryou Bakura walked in just then, his white hair tamed in a neat ponytail at the nape of his neck, and made his way over toward the two. Kaiba was staring hard at the table, deep in thought, despite Kia’s attempts to break him from his thoughts. "Earth to Kaiba, come in Kaiba?" Her voice slowly raised in volume as she waved her hand in front of his eyes and tried to speak to him. He remained unresponsive to Kia's attempts and she sighed in discomfort, wondering if he was loopy.

"Is this a bad time Kia?" Ryou's annoyingly soft voice and British accent took her attention away from Kaiba, and Kia took her eyes from him to face the timid boy. He stood there awkwardly, holding an arm and rubbing at it every now and then.

"Not at all, uh… Ryou?" She wasn’t even sure of his name. Bakura was delighted to see that Kia took no notice of the boy until now, and this gave him the upper hand in his plan.

"Well, I noticed that you had an extremely long way to walk home in the evenings..." he began, but Kia stopped him with her hand, standing to face him. Kaiba slowly brought his awareness back to the room he was within, noticing Kia standing defensively at his side and Ryou standing in front of them.

"And you noticed this _how_?" Kia’s voice was venomous, as though she were prepared to attack him. Kaiba stood beside her quickly, and looked between the two. Ryou was cowering back from her and she looked just about ready to bite his head off. Kaiba asked what was going on, and Kia replied in a cold voice. “He’s been watching me.” Ryou immediately shook his head and hands simultaneously, seeing the disgust in Kaiba’s glare.

"No, no! I see you walk past my house every day" he explained quickly, holding his hands up in defence. Kia raised an eyebrow, but allowed him to continue speaking. "My house is ten minutes down the road from here, I see you walk down the long street about a half mile before you turn off. I watch an episode of "Road Wars", the British edition, and look out the window again and you're still walking..." he continued, keeping a wary eye on Kaiba. Kia looked down at the paper on the desk, suddenly feeling foolish for getting defensive so fast.

"I… see." He wasn’t being perverted as she had first thought, he was concerned for her wellbeing. Walking that long distance certainly wasn’t any fun and Kia wasn’t afraid to admit it. Ryou muttered about wanting to offer her a room in his house as he began to walk away, head drooped, feeling sorry for himself. Kai jumped at the offer. “A room? Really? For how much?” Her words slurred together in her haste to move out of the orphanage, amusing Kaiba and confusing Ryou. He looked back to her, appraising her excited figure.

"Well, uh, I suppose twenty dollars a week." He was surprised that she accepted his offer, but it was all to aid in Bakura’s plan. She clapped her hands together.

"Perfect! When can I move in?!" Kia’s voice rose several octaves, her excitement getting the best of her and causing Kaiba to look at her in surprise. Ryou assured her that she could move in whenever she wanted to, gave her his address and number, before walking away. Kaiba scowled as he left, turning toward Kia and sneering down at her.

"So you're moving in with Bakura?"

"It's better than the damn orphanage, trust me..." she replied with contempt, offended Kaiba would make it seem weirder than it was. Ryou was being very generous for someone who didn’t know her properly, but then again, so was Kaiba. Maybe she had misread everyone’s behaviour? Bringing her attention back to Mokuba’s Irish paper, she wrote “87% (Higher)” on page one and smiled at it.

"I know, I moved in with a dangerous millionaire as a child to get away from it" Kaiba stated matter-of-factly, looking down at the paper in her hands. Kia turned to face him, amazed at the news. She knew Mokuba and Kaiba had been adopted by the Kaiba family, but it was simply public knowledge. Nobody ever discussed it, least of all Kaiba.

"I doubt Ryou's a dangerous millionaire now Kaiba, that _is_ a bit far-fetched. I daresay I can look after myself." she returned with a smirk. Kaiba allowed himself to chuckle slightly at her humour, thinking back to when he had said something similar to himself the night he moved into the Kaiba mansion.

Trying to distract himself and Kia from talking anymore about being orphaned, he pointed to the exam and smirked, proud of his younger brother. "I see Mokuba has been promoted from a common level of Gaelic Irish to the Higher level.”

"It seems your ‘ _psychotic’_ Irishman taught him well." Kia looked down proudly at the exam as Kaiba chuckled again. "His standard of Irish is the same as an Irish child, if not better. He'll be able to appreciate Irish poems, stories and dramas, which is exactly what he’ll need to do to pass the official exam." She smiled to herself, already planning out a lesson plan for Mokuba.

"He'll be happy to know, I'm sure." was Kaiba's reply. An idea formed in his mind, and Kaiba thought it over, wondering if it was a little imposing. Deciding it to be a good idea, he suggested that he help her move her things over to Bakura’s house, and then give her a ride in the limousine out to the mansion. Kia looked up into his intense cobalt blue eyes, distracted by the fact that he was being overly friendly once again. Perhaps Kaiba simply wanted someone to talk to? And he disliked everyone else in the class, so he decided to choose her?

Shaking her head of such thoughts, she opened her mouth to refuse his offer politely. “Thank you Kaiba, but I wouldn’t want to be a b-“ His finger suddenly rested on her lips and stopped her from speaking. Her eyes widened at the contact, but she didn’t pull away.  

"I _insist_." Kaiba smirked at her, trying to convince her to accept his offer, but she shook her head and tried to talk against his finger. "I won't take 'no' for an answer.” She frowned slightly and reluctantly nodded her head, watching as his expression became smug and his hand dropped from her face.

She stared at him, wondering what on earth was going through his mind at that moment of time. ‘I wonder if this is an actor, or an alien!’ she mused, tilting her head to one side as she studied him further. His chocolate brown hair was in its usual perfect style, his blue eyes as striking as ever. His clear skin wasn't discoloured, nor did he look ill. He just looked... Normal. Kia determined that unless this person had been impersonating Kaiba for the past few months, it was definitely the real Seto Kaiba sitting beside her.

As Kia carefully studied Kaiba for imperfections, Kaiba studied her. Her chocolate brown locks fell to just below her bust, straight as a ruler, and her round, grey-blue eyes were staring at him intently. Her slightly round face was pale in colour and light freckles covered her face, probably because of her roots in Ireland. The eyeliner outlining her eyes wasn’t lost on Kaiba, nor was the lip-gloss she had stained her lips with. Kaiba found himself staring at her mouth for far too long, suddenly realising that he had touched her mere seconds ago.

The class bell suddenly rang out, warning students and teachers that class was to start. Kia jumped slightly and broke from her trance, looking around and noticing that the room was filled with people. She hastily put her papers into her bag, looking up at the teacher guiltily, hoping to avoid getting caught not paying attention. Kaiba continued to stare, taking no heed of the teacher’s chatter, or the noise of the more annoying students.

Directly behind them sat Yugi Motou, and he was keeping a close eye on Kia. Something, or rather someone, told him that he needed to watch over Kia carefully. He was certain that it was Yami, or Pharaoh Atem as he should call him, but that was impossible. Atem was gone, as were all the Millennium Spirits.

 

* * *

 

Later that evening, Kaiba and Kia were in Kaiba's large and luxurious limousine, on their way to the Kaiba mansion. Kia was sitting on the edge of the white leather, worried once again about dirtying the fancy interior. She felt incredibly awkward, neither had said a word since they left Ryou’s place and that had been at least ten minute ago.

"Thank you for helping me move my stuff..." Kia finally mumbled. Kaiba, who had been looking out the window and taking no mind of her, looked over in her direction to reply. He saw her stiff, uncomfortable posture as she sat awkwardly on the seat and he sighed, leaning forward in his own seat.

"Don’t mention it. Sit properly, that’s dangerous.” Kia shifted backwards slightly in response, but didn’t sit fully back into the seat. Sitting across from Kaiba, she tried to hide the fact that she was still perched precariously by crossing her legs and holding her knee right knee with her hands. She was still wearing the short school uniform skirt, and Kaiba was momentarily distracted by her slim legs, rubbing against each other daintily as she crossed them in the confined space. He mentally shook any crude thoughts and reached out, pushing her shoulders once again and pushing her toward the leather.

Kia blushed immediately at his hands, pushing them away and smiling guiltily. "Right, okay, I'm sitting properly..." Her mumbled reply made Kaiba smirk, as did her blush, and he decided to make her blush even more. Stretching his hand out toward her, he lightly touched her forehead with the back of his hand and frowned in mock concern.

"You seem a little warm, do you feel ill?" Her eyes had followed his hand up until he brought it to her forehead and she blushed even more, locking eyes with the handsome young man in front of her. She barely stammered a ‘no’ as she studied his actions, his hand moving away from her head and resting on her shoulder. She could hear her heart racing in her chest, and wondered if he could hear it too. Why was she reacting this way?

Kia was not an idiot. She had been orphaned at a young age, having lost her mother first and later her father. However, she didn’t remember anything from before the orphanages or the foster homes, a reaction that therapists claimed was natural in a child as young as she was when the traumas started to hit her. However, being kept in foster care with parents that reminded you that you weren’t there to stay, and in orphanages where there was barely any food, Kia couldn’t help but feel as though she couldn’t trust anyone. She had a feeling of betrayal about her; her entire family had gone and left her alone, and no-one had ever wanted to adopt her.

After a few years of being rejected again and again by family after family, she became unemotional when it came to being rejected. And shortly after that, she stopped putting herself into the line of children to be considered, accepting that she would never have another family, nor would anyone ever understand her.

But here she was, sitting in the same limousine as someone who had gone through exactly what she had. But their stories didn’t perfectly match up; Kaiba had managed to convince someone to adopt himself and Mokuba, while she was still waiting in an orphanage for her eighteenth birthday when she could finally move out and make a start on her own life. She had never really had friends, they were a luxury she couldn’t really afford, as her time was mostly needed back at the orphanage.

Staring at Kaiba, Kia thought over her strange reactions to him. If Tristan or Joey suggested going out with her, she would put them down immediately and refuse to go, having no interest in either of them. Joey with his annoying Brooklyn accent, and Tristan with his stupid hair… Not to mention their weird personalities. But Kaiba, he was different. He was intelligent, and polite (To her, at least) and he hadn’t any ugly physical features. There was little or nothing about him that annoyed Kia, rather, she always giggled when he and Joey would argue in class.

She felt a twinge in her chest and nausea set in as she realised something unmistakable. She had a crush on Seto Kaiba. She frowned at his amused face, wondering why she had to think of him in such a childish way, especially in the same vehicle as him. She wouldn’t have minded having her epiphany at home, where she could contemplate it all she liked, but right now, she had to keep face. The blush stayed on her face even as she frowned, and Kaiba became confused, as well as concerned immediately.

"Kia? Is something wrong?" Kaiba had no idea of the thoughts spiralling in Kia’s mind. Her epiphany and her contemplation happened in mere seconds, and her sudden reaction worried him. Had he mocked too much? Had he offended her?

She smiled at him nervously, smoothing out her skirt and placing her hands back onto her knee. “Nothing. It’s nothing.”


	4. The Unexpected Meal

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> When Kia Boulevarde moves to Domino City after years of being tossed from orphanage to orphanage, she isn't prepared for the sudden attention she receives from THE Seto Kaiba.  
> But she suddenly begins to have strange dreams about him, in which he hurts her or betrays her in some way or another. These dreams leave her feeling nauseous and downright uncomfortable in his presence. In short, she becomes afraid of him.  
> It couldn't have anything to do with the fact that she's living with Yami Bakura... Or could it?
> 
> Reposted and changed dramatically from FF.Net. Hopefully I've improved it.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This is the first chapter where we encounter Gaelic Irish. Colscaradh is pronounced as Call-scaw-rah, for those of you who are curious. It's a poem that discusses the different wants of a man and his wife during the course of their marriage. It ends in divorce.  
> Now that I've ruined the first paragraph for you, have fun reading!

After what had happened in the limo a little while prior, Kia was trying to keep her mind occupied and avoid making a fool of herself while inside the mansion. She was explaining Mokuba’s first lesson in great detail, watching as he took down little notes here and there. "So your first poem is called 'Colscaradh' and it's about a man and his wife who don't agree on where the wife's place is in the home. The name of the poem means 'divorce', and at the end they… Well… Divorce.” Kia finished lamely, realising that there was little to say about the poem without going into too much detail. Mokuba looked down at the poem, clearly interested and read down through it quickly.

"Mr Flanagan always talked about his wife staying at home to mind the children…" His reply was full of disgust, after he finished reading the poem. "Looking at this poem, I can see where these two disagreed." Kia giggled and shook her head in amusement, feeling at ease with the twelve year old boy.

"That makes your job much easier so." Kia assured him. "You already know what to talk about in your answer. I'll give you some vocabulary and you can start on a sample answer for this question..." As she spoke, she handed him a piece of paper which read 'Discuss the different outlooks of life examined by the man and the woman in this poem' written in Gaelic Irish. Mokuba titled his essay with the question, and took note of the extra vocabulary Kia had given to him. He scratched his head once or twice, showing his concentration, before starting to write the essay.

Kia stood up from her place at the dining table, deciding to give Mokuba a quieter environment to complete his question and walked out of the dining room. She had since found out that the room was a royal navy colour, and not dark grey or navy as she had first suspected. She made her way into kitchen and jumped about a foot into the air when she saw Kaiba's thin figure leaning against the countertop nearest the fridge. Kia jumped with surprise and squeaked, bringing a hand up to her mouth, not expecting to see him in the kitchen. “You said you were working in your office!” She sounded accusatory as she reminded him of his words outside in the limousine.

“I _was_ working, but now I’m thirsty.” He studied her, moving slowly toward the fridge and taking out two bottles of Coca Cola. “Want one? I’m sure you’ve been busy the past half hour.” She nodded as he threw one to her, and she just about caught it in her slim hands. She wondered if she really had been there for only half an hour, but shrugged and took a sip of her cola as Kaiba took a sip of his. “Are you hungry?” The question was unexpected and Kia looked over at him, unsure of how to respond. Yes, she was hungry, but she didn’t think she should actually answer. Seeing the uncertainty on her face, Kaiba smirked and demanded for her to be honest with him.

She sighed in defeat. "Maybe a little bit, but I wouldn't want to put y-" Kaiba strode across the room as she spoke, covering her mouth with his hand and cutting off her reply. Kia merely raised an eyebrow at this, looking into his deep blue eyes for an answer.

"If you are hungry, you shall eat."  She stared at him in disbelief, her eyes wider than they had ever been before. He mistook her reaction to be in response to eating, and he looked her up and down as he took his hand from her lips. "Don't tell me you're anorexic..."

Kia stood back away from him quickly, offended he would say such a thing. "No, of course not!" But as soon as she voiced her reply, she suddenly wondered if she _looked_ anorexic. Looking down at herself, she inspected her arms and legs, timidly pushing the skin to check if her bones were too protruding. Kaiba noticed this, and immediately tried to reassure her.

“You’re perfectly fine. Stop worrying.” Kia looked up from investigating her legs, and saw that Kaiba was staring at her. _Staring_. And not at her face. But at her legs. Before Kia could say anything, Mokuba walked into the kitchen and handed Kia his notebook, asking if she could check what he had done so far.

"Can I take a fifteen minute break please?" He also asked. Kia was quiet while she contemplated his request, mindful that Kaiba had ignored his own brother and was still staring at her. She nodded nervously to Mokuba, who dashed into the foyer and then up the stairs. Kia smiled after him before turning her attention to the notebook, taking a seat at the breakfast bar and reading over what Mokuba had written. Kaiba had finally broken his stare and was now peering into the fridge, deciding what to cook.

"We’re having pasta tonight." He seemed to be convincing himself of that, and Kia giggled at the thought of Kaiba convincing himself to cook pasta. He soon had three different pots boiling on the stove, and Kia had gone over what Mokuba planned to write about in his essay. She agreed with his views, and was going to tell him as such when he returned. She needed to use the bathroom as short while after, and asked Kaiba if they had one.

It seemed like a pretty straightforward question to her, asking for someone’s bathroom. But Kaiba turned around from his place at the stove, and merely informed her that he did indeed have a bathroom. He then turned back to face the stove, without telling her where to go in order to find it.

After a moment or so of silence, save for the bubbling of water in one of the pots, Kia asked him rather impatiently once more for the bathroom. Only this time, she was more direct. "Might I _use_ it please?” Kaiba turned around again after she spoke, nodding and turning down the heat on the stove. He motioned for her to follow him and then left the room, and Kia hopped off the high chair to find him. Waiting for her impatiently in a small hallway, Kaiba took her hand and began walking down the hall.

“I’ll have to help you from the chair next time, you took too long.” She was too busy staring at him in confusion to notice where they were going. His hand was surprisingly warm on hers, and she stared at their hands in bemusement. Had he just said he would _help_ her off her chair next time?

She looked up to see he had turned around, facing her as he navigated through the maze-like halls. "Kaiba, what are you doing?" Her question was in relation to his turning around to face her as he walked, but Kaiba frowned in confusion and answered her gruffly.

"Bringing you to the bathroom." He somehow managed to bring her into a longer hallway, with doors lining each side. It reminded her of a scene from Alice in Wonderland and Kia had to stop herself from giggling at the idea. They were still on the ground floor, yet there were more rooms down his hallway than in the entire orphanage. Kaiba brought her to an oak door and pushed it open, revealing a bathroom. "See?" No sooner had he the door slightly ajar had Kia dashed from his grasp and inside the room, mumbling a ‘Thanks’ as she did.  

The bathroom was bigger than her bedroom. There was a large and splendid bath in the middle of the room, one of the ones you see on TV that are raised up and set into steps made up of beautiful small rocks. The theme was light blue, light blue tiles on the walls and a darker blue on the floor. The toilet was blue and stood a step higher than the floor too. The hand basin was opposite the toilet and had a blue framed mirror above it. Kia just barely remembered to lock the door before walking over toward the basin, flustered at Kaiba's actions.

Kaiba watched in surprise as she dashed into the bathroom, and decided to wait for her a few doors down the hall. As he waited patiently for her return, he wondered if she noticed when he had addressed her by her given name in the limousine, as opposed to using her last name as he had been doing.  Hoping that she either didn’t notice, or didn’t mind, he crossed his arms and leant against a wall.

Kia splashed her face with cold water from the basin as she washed her hands, wondering why Kaiba was acting so… Cute. There was no other word for it, really. His teasing in the limo, his actions whilst bringing her to the bathroom… He seemed to be so comfortable with her now, he even addressed her as ‘Kia’ in the limo. She wasn’t sure if it was out of concern, or simply because he preferred to use her given name, but Kia secretly hoped it was the latter.

When she left the bathroom a minute or so later, she was relieved to see Kaiba leaning against a wall in wait. "Thank the heavens you're still here." Her cute voice rang out behind him. "I would have been lost forever in this place..." She looked down at her feet, blushing intensely at the admission that she thought of his home as nothing more than a maze.

Kaiba turned to face her, and gave her an assuring smirk. "I'd find you, don't worry." He took her hand once again and led her back to the kitchen, deciding against distracting her again. Leading her to the bar, he helped her onto her seat, then moved back to his pots on the stove, stirring whatever was in each one carefully. He then tipped one into another and Kia saw that he added broccoli to something.

She softly made her way off the chair and moved toward him, meaning to see what he was cooking. She never thought of Kaiba as a chef, so she was curious to see what he was preparing. Her small hand rested on his arm as she used him for balance, pushing upwards onto the tip of her toes to see into the pots. "Why did you call me Kia back in the limo?" She had just blurted it out, which was something she hadn’t intended on doing. She expected Kaiba to scoff, or to say that it was none of her concern, so his reply confused her slightly.

He stopped stirring the mixture in the pots in front of him, and half turned his head toward her. "It was a slip of the tongue Miss Boulevard, I was concerned for your safety.” His muttered reply gave Kia the impression that he was embarrassed and she smiled slightly, moving back to her chair while telling him that she didn’t mind either way. Curiosity killed the cat, and clearly her curiosity had embarrassed poor Seto Kaiba. He turned toward her fully, eyeing her as he repeated her words as a question. “You didn’t mind?”

Keeping her eyes on Mokuba’s notebook, she randomly remembered that it had been much longer than fifteen minutes, and that the younger Kaiba should have returned by then. "Nope, not at all. ’Miss Boulevard' sounds too posh to be me." She underlined a misspelled word on the page, writing the correct spelling above it, wondering why she hadn't noticed it before.

Kaiba scoffed at her reply, disagreeing with her as he poured fusilli pasta with the broccoli onto three plates, and then poured a lemon-yellow sauce from another pot into a small jug. Pouring a small amount of the sauce onto one of the plates, he brought it into the dining room and called out for Mokuba. They had a hushed conversation, as Kia looked down at her plate, in awe of what Kaiba had cooked.

It was a simple meal really, but Kia had taken to cooking simpler meals such as basic ramen noodles and the like for the children at the orphanage. Hence, she felt like this meal was already too fancy for the likes of her, being used to having the lowest quality food wherever she went. Even the food in the cafeteria at school seemed to be lacking in taste. She felt very uneasy at that point in time, staring down at the meal and wondering why she was even there in the first place.

Kaiba entered the room while Kia was staring at her plate, waiting for a moment before speaking. "Do you not trust my cooking?" He took his seat at the bar across from her as she looked up guiltily, a small smile appearing on her lips. 

The blush returned to her cheeks as she replied nervously. “I do, I just… Uh..." She looked down at the plate again and sighed, deciding to tell him the truth. "I'm not used to this kind of food... You see, we have barely anything at the orphanage so..." Her mutter drifted off and she looked down to the side, and Kaiba realised how uncomfortable she was.

He plucked the small white jug from the bar and poured some of the yellow sauce onto his own plate, the smell of the cheese sauce alerting Kia to the food on the table once more. "I understand. Dinners are never much fun when you have to share a small portion with several other children." Kaiba was fully capable of empathising with her, as he himself had been in that situation before. He remembered having to save much of his dinner to give to Mokuba, as they rarely had proper meals at the orphanage.

Kia had dared to use some of the sauce and placed a sauce-coated pasta swirl into her mouth timidly. Humming at the taste, a smile broke out on her face and she chewed on the piece happily, before swallowing and elaborating. "There are eleven other children now... The youngest is thirteen months.” Kaiba’s jaw ceased its chewing and he stared at her, disbelief evident in his eyes. "Ms Greene won't let anybody else look after her, she hasn't a name yet and she doesn't eat any form of solid food. Mixing up her bottles is the worst, especially in the middle of the night." Kia picked up some more pasta on her fork and inspected it, before popping it into her mouth.

Kaiba continued to stare at her. She helped to look after a _baby_? When he and Mokuba had been in the orphanage, the youngest child he remembered was five. And that was Mokuba. He told her as such and she nodded, suddenly looking down at her plate instead of facing him. "I'm the eldest, I'm seventeen... I was in Tokyo, but they moved me out here when they ran out of room..." She pushed a piece of broccoli around her plate as she thought of the children she would no longer be seeing every day. "Apart from me, Marceline is the eldest. And she’s only ten"

Kaiba placed his fork down beside his plate and clasped his hands together, his typical concentration pose. He studied her for a long moment, a question on the tip of his tongue. "Who do you talk to?"

His query made her realise that she rarely spoke to people, never having a reason or a desire to speak. "Marceline sometimes, or I’d go upstairs into the attic and read." She stabbed another piece of broccoli and brought it to her mouth. "And at school, I have Yugi's friends to talk to..." She pulled a face at that before taking a bite of her food.

Kaiba smirked at her, remembering the altercation that happened a few days prior. "You must enjoy being heckled by the Mutt and Taylor all the time.” Kia narrowed her eyes and glared at him, her dislike for the two men pleasing Kaiba.

“I hate it when they ask me out. I tell them I’m not interested but they won’t stop asking… Even Duke Devlin has started asking me, and I definitely don’t want to go out with him.” Reflexively, she stood and brought her plate to the sink, washing it as she spoke. Kaiba moved to her and told her that he would have cleaned up after their meal.

She looked at him in disbelief, her confusion interrupted by Mokuba walking in with his own plate and leaving it on the side, thanking his older brother for the meal. "I'm going to continue my essay on 'Colscaradh', Kia..." She nodded in approval and watched he left the room, before looking back at Kaiba who was washing his own plate in the green sink.

Kia suddenly thought of something amusing. Her mouth broke into a wide smile and her tone of voice was almost _taunting_ as she spoke to Kaiba. "I bet you ten dollars I'll be asked at least three times to go out again tomorrow." He faced her and tilted his head, seeing the mischievous look in her eyes. She was going to make something that she hated into a game. He had to admit, it sounded like it would be funny to see her refusing all those proposals again tomorrow.

His hands were resting in the warm water, his sleeves pulled up to just below his elbows, and yet he couldn’t take his eyes off of Kia. He smirked at her as he told her ‘Alright, you're on’, earning himself an even broader smile from the pretty brunette, her blue-grey eyes sparkling in the bright lights in the kitchen.

Seto Kaiba loved to play games, and he had a feeling that this would be fun.


	5. Confessions and Exploitations

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> When Kia Boulevarde moves to Domino City after years of being tossed from orphanage to orphanage, she isn't prepared for the sudden attention she receives from THE Seto Kaiba.  
> But she suddenly begins to have strange dreams about him, in which he hurts her or betrays her in some way or another. These dreams leave her feeling nauseous and downright uncomfortable in his presence. In short, she becomes afraid of him.  
> It couldn't have anything to do with the fact that she's living with Yami Bakura... Or could it?
> 
> Reposted and changed dramatically from FF.Net. Hopefully I've improved it.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry to anyone who might be interested in this story, I was unbelievably busy this past week. I'll try to post more regularly again.

Kaiba looked at his watch and saw that it was almost half past eight. Looking out the window and seeing how dark it was, he feared that something may happen to her as she made her way home. "It's nearly half eight, would you like a ride down to Bakura's house?" Kia blushed at the offer, the idea of being in the limousine with him again causing butterflies to form in her stomach.

She knew by now that she should just accept his help, but she slipped into her natural state and began to speak; "I wouldn't-" His hand blocked her mouth, stopping her from speaking immediately. She sighed and rolled her eyes, repeating his words back to him. “You inshisht.” Her muffled reply made him smirk and he nodded, waiting for her to agree. “Okay, yes please.”

Kaiba released her and moved into the dining room, calling out for Mokuba. "Mokuba, Kia’s leaving now.” Mokuba appeared at the doorway briskly, coming up to Kia and handing her his finished work. He then waited for his older brother to walk into the front foyer before he led Kia into the dining room to retrieve her schoolbag. She put it on her shoulders carefully and made her way into the cream coloured hallway, Mokuba at his side. Kaiba was nowhere to be seen.

Mokuba suddenly wrapped his little arms around her waist, holding her tightly against him. "I wish you could stay for longer..." Mokuba muttered, mostly to himself. Kia was about to answer when he continued speaking in a low voice. "Seto normally works late, he's been taking shorter work days since you started coming here…” At this, Mokuba’s voice raised an octave, his excitement becoming more apparent in his bubbly personality once more. “But when he starts working late again, you'll be like a baby-sitter _and_ teacher, and that'll be really fun!" He smiled at her and Kia smiled back, hopefully in reassurance, and Mokuba retracted his arms before bounding up the stairs, waving back at her.

She waved back, wondering why he suddenly felt low, and she began to worry for the young boy. To distract herself, she decided to take a proper look around the foyer.  The layout was simple but on a large scale, with cream chairs in front of the two large windows and the grand staircase directly in front of the large double doors. It travelled from the centre of the room up to the back wall and branched off at either side to the different areas of the house. To the left of it was the door into the lavish living room and further up along, was the door into the dining room. On the same wall as the staircase was the door into the kitchen and to the right, large double doors.

Kia was curious as to what other rooms this place would need, but then again, she'd only seen four rooms in this place. (One of those rooms was the bathroom and she hadn't a clue where that was…) There was fancy wooden flooring that she could scratch, or the fancy vases dotted around the place that she could knock over, or the clean, cream coloured walls that she could dirty... This was a dangerous place to her. So much could go wrong...

Kaiba appeared from the doorway into the kitchen, pristine and calm. "Ready to go?" Kia looked down from the biggest golden chandelier she'd ever seen and replied with a squeak instead of a proper reply. Kaiba tilted his head to the side and raised an eyebrow, puzzled by her reaction. "Are you alright?"

Shit, he was concerned for her. _Again_. She really had to stop making a fool of herself. "Yes, yes I am..." She barely mumbled her reply, before turning to the double front doors and reaching out a hand to open one. Kaiba appeared beside her in seconds and had the door open before she could even touch the handle. Kia retracted her hand in surprise, muttering a ‘thank you’ as she looked back to where he had been standing seconds before.

Kaiba couldn’t quite bring himself to assure her that it was alright, instead choosing to inform her that they were taking his Lamborghini and not the limo. She looked around eagerly, relieved to not have to use the limousine once more and Kaiba chuckled slightly at her display. "It's in the garage" he added and took her hand, surprising her yet again this evening. He led her down the tarmacadam driveway toward a small brown garage, almost hidden by the trees surround it. The doors opened as they approached and Kia saw the bright yellow sports car, resting on a metal floor. She looked down, puzzled. It was a wooden garage why was there a metal floor?

Kaiba seemed to notice her confusion, as he informed her that it was an elevator, while opening the car door for her. "I send a message down to my staff in their quarters below the mansion, and inform them of the car I wish to drive. They send it up on this elevator, and I send it back down again when I return." Kia sat into the car softly as he spoke, realising that he had a lot of influence and a lot of money. It made her feel ill just thinking about it.

As Kaiba rounded the car and sat into the driver’s seat, she addressed him carefully. “So wait… You have staff that have their own quarters under the mansion?” Kaiba nodded. “And they send you cars up from the underground garage into this garage?” Kaiba smirked and nodded again, pleased that she seemed to be impressed with him. She didn’t say anything else, nor did Kaiba, as he drove her the ten minutes to Bakura’s house.

When the car pulled into Bakura’s small driveway, Kia looked up at the small white house, cast in moonlight and sighed. "Thank you for the ride and the meal, Kaiba..." Kia went to open her door as she spoke, but Kaiba had already left his seat and had her door open for her.

"You thank people a lot.” A typical Kaiba response. Even though Kia had expressed her gratitude, he still seemed to be uncomfortable with being nice to people. She stood out of the car and looked up at him, rubbing at her arm awkwardly.

"I've never said it before you started talking to me actually..." It was barely a mumble. Kaiba had to strain to hear her in the growing darkness. "I haven't really had much to be thankful for, apart from Ryou renting me a room and you being... A friend..." Her eyes fell to the ground as she said the word ‘friend’. She wasn’t sure if she should call him that yet. She might have offended him for all she knew.

But Kaiba was not offended. He was amused. Closing the door to his car, he shoved his hands into the pockets of his dress pants and looked up at the moon. "If I were Wheeler or Taylor, I'd be offended that you called me a friend just now." He chuckled at the memory and waited for her response.

She giggled and looked up to him, seeing that he had his attention directed at her once again. "You saw that too, huh?" She squinted in the darkness, her hands resting on her hips in accusation. "You see a whole lot for a so-called 'jerk'." She used her fingers to make quotation marks in the air around Kaiba's face as she said jerk, and he chuckled, before catching both her hands with his.

He suddenly leaned toward her, his face only an inch or so from her own. His features became completely serious, as he whispered; "I see things I'm _interested_ in." His deep blue eyes seemed to be moving, rolling like waves in the sea, and pulling her deeper into his gaze. Kia’s breathing almost stopped as she felt the intensity of his words hit her like a tonne of bricks.

He moved away, releasing her hands which dropped limply to her sides. "You should head inside. If you were to catch a cold and miss school, I would go delirious without your company." Kia blushed a deep crimson as she nodded and walked slowly up the driveway, keeping her gaze locked on the ground. Reaching the door, she turned and mumbled ‘Good Night’ into the darkness, finding that Kaiba was standing by his car door once more.

Kaiba was secretly pleased with her reaction. She wasn’t offended, nor was she disgusted with what she said. He had no doubt in his mind that she was intelligent enough to realise exactly what he meant by what he had said, and when he heard her muted goodbye, he smirked. "Good night Miss Boulevard.  I hope I haven’t caused you any discomfort." Sitting into the car, he chuckled softly at her before pulling out of the drive and into the road.

Kia stood outside and watched him drive into the night in silence.

 

* * *

 

Ryou Bakura snuck up on Kia later that evening, as she sat in a small armchair in his living room that evening. It was nearly an hour since Kaiba dropped her home, and Kia was trying to distract herself by reading a long novel. "Hey Kia, want to see the new Kaiba Corp. game system I bought?"

She jolted out of her reading world and looked up to his eager face. His voice was soft but excited, his English accent adding to the strangeness of the offer. "Uh, sure. Is it fun?" She wasn't too fond of computer games, but followed him anyway as he led her through his small house to his games room. He assured her that it was ‘lots of fun’ along the way, leading her up the stairs and into the smaller room beside hers.

The machine sat in the middle of the room, a large virtual reality pod that allowed one to lie inside. Kia had never seen one of them before, let alone used one. It was big and silver, and ovular in shape with the ‘KC’ logo on the side. A large sheet of glass acted as the door on the top of the machine, and inside was a reclined seat, with straps and a helmet. Ryou helped her step into the machine and strapped her down, placing the helmet over her head and smiling as she asked what the machine did. She was feeling sceptical about using it, and this seemed to make Ryou smile even more.

It wasn’t Ryou that she was speaking to, though. It was Bakura, the Thief King. Kia hadn’t noticed his erratic hair and the red that tinted his irises just slightly. “It does a lot of things…” He focused on the touch-screen on the side of the machine, reading out the various functions that it carried out. “Replays dreams, memories, creates whole new worlds to roam in and allows for downloadable content. Which should we try?”

Kia thought over the functions, and decided against the roaming in a world function. She hadn’t a very good sense of direction, and worried that she would get lost in the virtual world. The dream function didn’t appeal to her either; a lot of her dreams were dark in nature, and having Ryou watching over her while she escaped the horrors she conjured did not appeal to her at all. The memory one seemed to be reasonable, but only if _she_ could choose the memory she revisited.

Kia voiced her decision, and Ryou prepared to type something into the machine. "This machine apparently finds memories based on how recent they are. How long ago is your memory from?" Kia scrunched up her face and tried to think. It was nearing half nine in the evening, and Kaiba and she had eaten at around half seven. She wanted to be there again, at the mansion, with Kaiba. Blushing as she thought this, she hoped Ryou hadn’t noticed and she deliberated between choosing that memory or another, more simple one.

Making her mind up, she called out; "A little over two hours ago." Ryou smiled as he typed in the time, watching as Kia closed her eyes and the machine placed her in a virtual reality that showed her memory. His smile became a sickening smirk as he watched Kia's memory on the small screen in front of him, waiting for the right moment to ruin her memory.

 

***~*~* Dream *~*~***

When Kia opened her eyes, she was sitting across from Kaiba at the breakfast bar in his home. The smell of cheese and cooked pasta filled her nose, and she gasped in amazement at the attention to detail of Kaiba’s face. His words from outside Ryou’s house flooded her mind, and she opened her mouth to ask him what he had meant, closing it again when she realised that she couldn’t ask Kaiba what he meant. This was only a memory, not the real Kaiba.

Kaiba placed down his fork, and looked to her with concern evident in his eyes. “Are you okay?” His question confused Kia, and she realised very quickly that this was not supposed to be happening. Perhaps something was wrong with the machine? Mixing up memories with virtual realities? His hand suddenly stretched across the table and took her chin in his palm, his thumb brushing against her bottom lip. “Kia, tell me what’s wrong.”

Her heartbeat quickened, wondering why he was touching her in such a way. She moved to push his hand away from her face, and asked what he was doing, frowning at his expression. Before she could even touch his hand, his other found its way to her cheek and she realised that he was _focusing_ on her. This was definitely not what had happened earlier that evening.

"Ryou!” Her shriek made Kaiba frown in disgust, but she ignored him and looked up toward the ceiling of the kitchen. “Ryou, something’s wrong!”

Everything went black.

***~*~***

 

She woke up in the pod in Ryou's house, gasping for air as she tried to sit up in the confined space. It suddenly opened and Kia climbed out wearily, holding her head as she thought over what had happened. She and Kaiba discussed how terrible living in an orphanage had been for the both of them, and she had washed her plate, which annoyed Kaiba. “I feel… Really tired Ryou… I’m heading to bed…” The sudden drain of energy made her droop even more as she made her way into the other room, confused as to what had happened in the machine.

Bakura watched her go, the red glow in his eyes returning as he realised that he could manipulate her memories, or create _new_ memories for her and bring back her darkness. Bring back the source of his power. He had been feeling drained the past week as she became more comfortable with Kaiba, and he felt the exact moment in the limousine when she realised she had a crush on him. Bakura’s energy had drained faster than it ever had before, the sudden surge of happiness that she felt causing him physical pain.

He needed to make her fear Kaiba, to put a stop to the source of her happiness.

He looked down at the control panel on the machine and started up a new world, recreating the Kaiba mansion from Kia’s memory. He would start small and make her uncomfortable in his presence, hopefully building the tension over an extended period of time and then… She would be at his mercy. Begging for Bakura to keep her safe from Kaiba’s ‘evil’ ways.  

 


	6. Dreams and Reality

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> When Kia Boulevarde moves to Domino City after years of being tossed from orphanage to orphanage, she isn't prepared for the sudden attention she receives from THE Seto Kaiba.  
> But she suddenly begins to have strange dreams about him, in which he hurts her or betrays her in some way or another. These dreams leave her feeling nauseous and downright uncomfortable in his presence. In short, she becomes afraid of him.  
> It couldn't have anything to do with the fact that she's living with Yami Bakura... Or could it?
> 
> Reposted and changed dramatically from FF.Net. Hopefully I've improved it.

***~*~* Dream *~*~***

Kia opened her eyes and found herself in Kaiba's mansion, lying on her back in the middle of the living room floor. The caramel carpet was soft under her touch, as she spread out her fingers and tried to make sense of where she was. Looking up at the ceiling, she saw designs engraved into the plaster and tilted her head as she stared at them. Hadn’t she just gone to bed?

Deciding to look around a bit more, she turned to her right, intending to push herself up from the carpet, but stopped dead in her tracks when she saw Kaiba lying seductively beside her. She let out a combination between a gasp and a shriek, eliciting a smirk from the man lying next to her. He was draped over the carpet in a relaxed position, his right hand resting on his thin waist and his left hand holding his head up from the floor.

He suddenly reached out his left hand and brushed his fingers across her cheek, quietly whispering; "Hey Kia.” She stiffened at his touch. What was he doing? Was she dreaming? She had to be.

"What's going on Kaiba?" she demanded, put out by his behaviour. She felt extremely uncomfortable right about then, her lack of experience with friends and relationships making her even more uneasy. He said nothing else as he leaned toward her, eyes slowly slipping closed. She was sure he was going to kiss her, and that panicked her even more. He seemed to notice her reluctance, and frowned at her. His hand dropped from her face and moved behind him, before moving back toward her stomach. Kia kept her gaze on his face, eyebrows furrowed, confused beyond belief.

She almost didn’t notice it at first, but she felt a small pressure on her stomach, just above her navel, and she flinched looking down. Kaiba was holding a small knife to her body. Her eyes widened, but she found that she could not move away. She lost all control over her body as he continued to push the knife until it broke the skin, a dull pain flooding through her as it did so. She let out a sharp gasp as it moved even slower into her abdomen, her blood pooling on the carpet beneath her fingers. It was warm and thick as it trickled down toward her hands, splayed out on the darkening caramel carpet.

Kaiba seemed to realise what he did, looking down at the blood covering his hands and soaking into the carpet. He looked back up at Kia, who felt the blood rising in her throat before it crept up and out of her mouth. It quickly stained her lips and blocked her trachea, causing her to cough uncontrollably as Kaiba pulled the thin piece of metal from her stomach.

He looked back up at her, the look on his face holding concern. “Kia, I…” She could barely hear him as she gargled her own blood, regaining control of her hands and bringing them up to claw at her throat. Her vision began to dim and blur as she felt the warmth leaving her body by the second. The last thing she saw was Kaiba’s sudden disinterest in the dying girl lying on his floor, as he stood and calmly left the room.

***~*~***

 

Kia opened her eyes and bolted upright in bed, taking note of where she was. Looking out the window, she saw that dawn was just breaking out across Domino. She looked around the pale yellow room and sighed in relief, realising that she was in Ryou’s house and not Kaiba’s mansion. Sighing, she made her way out of bed and into the adjoining bathroom, dropping her pyjamas and stepping into the shower. As she rubbed shampoo into her hair, she contemplated the dream she had just experienced.

She was used to having fucked up dreams like that, but Kaiba never appeared in them. She was sure that the only reason why she had dreamt of him hurting her was in response to her epiphany she had in the limo yesterday. That made the most sense to her; Kaiba had moved toward her, almost as though he were going to kiss her, and when she panicked at the thought, he got angry with her.

But angry enough to kill her? That was a bit harsh, wasn’t it? Turning off the shower, she dried off quickly, and grabbed a random bra from her suitcase. Usually, she would take care and ensure that she only wore a white bra under her white school shirt, but she was too confused and flustered today to even think about being careful. Pulling on her blazer and skirt, she had just popped a foot into one of her cheap shoes when Ryou knocked on her door.

“Kia, breakfast!” She hastily tied her shoelace, slipping her foot into her other shoe, calling out in confirmation to him as she did. Taking a fleeting look in the mirror in the bathroom, she grabbed her schoolbag and carefully made her way downstairs. Kia Boulevard could be quite clumsy at times, and the last thing she needed was to fall down Ryou’s stairs. She made her way into the small kitchen and caught sight of Ryou, sliding pancakes out of a frying pan and onto a plate.

He looked up and saw her, smiling at her happily. "Good morning Kia. You can sit wherever you like, I’m nearly ready…" His voice sounded tired, despite his outwardly friendly greeting, and Kia studied him as she sat down on the white wooden chair.

"Did you not sleep well Ryou?” Her question made him sigh, and he placed the plate of pancakes on the table in front of her. She barely mumbled a ‘thank you’ before Ryou began speaking.

He took his own plate of pancakes and sat down as he spoke, sprinkling sugar across the tops of them. “I’ve been having dreams about Bakura, the Thief King returning to our realm recently. I know it isn’t possible, but it’s making me uneasy…” At this, he sulkily brought some pancake to his mouth and ate it slowly, refusing to look up toward Kia.

Kia rolled her eyes, remembering how Yugi, Téa, Joey and Tristan had taken their time informing her of all the craziness she missed before she moved to Domino. The ‘Shadow Realm’ and ‘Duelist Kingdom’ and the most bizarre, ‘Battle City’, were the strangest stories she had ever heard in her life. Ryou rubbed at his eyes and sighed, asking how Kia slept.

The dream flashed through her mind, and Kia cringed at the thought of it. It wasn’t anything new to her, she regularly had dreams of being attacked or hurt in some way or another. But Kaiba had never featured in them before. Deciding to keep her thoughts, and wacky dreams, to herself, she merely told him; “It was the best night’s sleep I’ve had in ages.”

 

* * *

 

Ryou informed her that he had to get a few things before school and left, his small blue car pulling out of the driveway easily. She watched  him leave, having refused to accept a ride to the school with him, before collecting her bag and starting out on her fifteen minute walk to school. She kept her head down, avoiding the eyes of other people walking this early in the morning, and crossed the street carefully when needed. She had just turned a corner when a vehicle slowed down beside her. Heart thumping in her chest, she kept her gaze focused on the intersection ahead and ignored the vehicle travelling beside her.

The sound of an automatic window rolling down pierced the air and Kia flinched away from the sound, wanting nothing to do with the stranger about to offer her a ride. Or attempt to abduct her. She had no idea who this was, after all. "Need a ride Miss Boulevard?" Kia stopped walking when she heard his voice, and turned toward the vehicle which had stopped beside her.

Her eyes widened when she saw it _was_ actually Kaiba, and she shook her head, politely declining his offer. "The school is no more than ten minutes away, I can walk it." She was confident and motivated to keep walking. Having grown up with weird dreams, Kia took to walking to clear her mind after witnessing something unpleasant in her mind. Plus, taking one look at the posh interior of the limousine was enough to create more than enough butterflies in her stomach. She started to feel nervous.

Kaiba was not impressed with her resistance to sit with him in his limo. Before she could start walking again, he insisted that she get into the vehicle and she sighed, looking down at the pavement beneath her feet. He smirked when he realised he had achieved his goal. "And you won't take 'no' for an answer..." Using the same words he had told her several times that week, she closed her eyes and sighed again. He opened the door and motioned for her to join him. "Alright, move over then..." Her demand was ignored and she glared at him, waiting for him to move.

"I'm not moving."

"Well then I'm _not_ getting in.” She turned and began to walk away, much to Kaiba’s surprise. “I’m not walking into the street just to get into your limo when I co-“ Kaiba caught onto her wrist and gently pulled her into the limousine, landing her precariously on his lap. His door was closed immediately afterward and Kia held her breath, amused that he would do such a thing. Was Kaiba feeling alright? She stared into his face carefully, ignoring the smirk that he seemed to have etched permanently into his features.

"Is this too far?" He was testing her limits, which sounds strange, but Kaiba is a calculating man. He wanted to know how much he could get away with doing with her before she found him being weird or strange. A part of Kaiba’s own mind thought that he _was_ being strange, but he assured himself that he knew what he was doing. He knew what he wanted.

Kia giggled, shuffling off of his lap and onto the seat beside him. "Why? Are you trying to piss me off?” She fixed herself as she did, noticing that the bra she was wearing was black lace. Under her white shirt. Oh lords, she’d have to keep her blazer on all day! Trying not to blush, she faced Kaiba and waited for his reply.

Kaiba had noticed her choice of underwear, and was currently focusing his attention in her face. She shivered slightly under his intense gaze, remembering the look in his eyes from her dream. “Everything I have done or said so far has amused you. I’m trying to avoid irritating you.”

Kia tilted her head, concentrating on his words. “Interesting…” She drew the word out slowly, pronouncing the letter ‘T’ a little harshly as she did. “But then again, I don’t think I’ve annoyed you either. I’m not actively avoiding annoying you though…” She brought a hand to her face and cupped her chin, deep in thought. The limo suddenly stopped and the chauffeur announced that they had arrived to Domino High. Kaiba opened his door and stood out, holding out a hand to help Kia from the low vehicle.

There were very few other students around so early in the morning, so nobody said anything as the pair walked into the school, side by side. After sorting out their books at their lockers, both made their way into the classroom and sat in their usual seats; Kaiba took out his laptop to begin working and Kia took out her novel. They sat in comfortable silence together, until Yugi’s group of friends were heard outside the door.

Kia took a deep breath, preparing herself for the onslaught of offers from the members of the group. Turning to Kaiba, she asked casually if he had his ten dollars ready. He scoffed and turned toward her, his fingers still moving fluidly over the keys even without him looking at them. “I won’t need it. They won’t try asking again, not even the Mutt is _that_ stupid.”

The door opened before Kia could complain about his abruptness and Yugi walked in, followed closely by Joey. Tristan and Téa walked in a little after them, but Kia paid no heed to them as Joey approached their desk, a cheerful expression on his face. "Good morning Kia, it’s a beautiful day ta match your beautiful face." He drew out the sound of the word ‘good’, making Kia wince and squint her eyes. His Brooklyn accent was annoying to listen to at the best of times, but Kia was sick of it by now. "I heard 'bout a different movie in theatres now, maybe we could go check it out..."

Kia closed her book slowly, using her finger as a temporary bookmark. She looked up at Joey and shook her head, politely telling him that she was busy. Kaiba raised an eyebrow, but kept his attention directed on his laptop, ignoring when Joey flashed a glare at him and mentally blamed Kaiba for Kia’s refusal. Tristan waited for a few minutes after Joey walked away before deciding to try his luck. He approached the desk and whipped out a credit card, shiny and new.

“Hey Kia…” Grey-blue eyes met brown. "How about a shopping trip Friday?" The credit card was dropped onto the desk immediately after, and Kia frowned at it in disgust.

“Do you really think you can buy affection?” Her pissed off question embarrassed Tristan, especially when she pushed the card off the table and onto the floor. As he bent over to retrieve it, Duke Devlin walked into the room, and made a beeline for her desk. Kia was barely listening to him as he suggested she spend the night at his house that evening, shooting him down with a glare and a point-blank refusal to go _anywhere_ with him.

Kaiba was secretly amazed at the male attention she was getting. And confused at his own reaction to their requests. Jealousy boiled up inside of him each time one of the other young men in the room asked her out, and it dispersed when she refused them, filling him with relief instead. However, Kia had said _at least_ three proposals, meaning he didn’t have to hand her the money just yet. He could feel her smug gaze directed at him, and he told her as such.

“Ugh, you’re so pedantic Kaiba…” She rolled her eyes. “The money part isn’t important though. The fact that I was asked _again_ by _the same three guys_ was wonderment enough.” She settled down into her seat and reopened her book, oblivious to the small argument that erupted over at the other table. They were trying to convince Yugi to ask her instead, hoping she would accept his invite.

Kaiba watched as Yugi moved away from the others at the desk, and moved slowly toward him and Kia. Yugi’s mumble was barely audible in the small room, but Kaiba had heard and seen enough. "I wanted to ask you over to the game shop on Friday..."

As Kia looked up at Yugi, shocked at his invitation, Kaiba slammed the ten dollar bill onto the desk. The sound reverberated around the room and made multiple people jump with fright, Kia included. She stared the bill in disbelief, not quite sure what to do. Everyone was watching her, including Kaiba.

The ten dollar note disappeared into her pocket slowly, as she faced Yugi and smirked a little. "I'm busy on Friday." He nodded in acknowledgement, making his way back over to his group of friends who looked on in amazement. Duke reappeared at their desk, looking between Kaiba and Kia with interest.

His grin became cheesy and his eyebrows raised in immediate interest as he asked; "Busy with Kaiba, huh?” All eyes were back on her, and Kia somehow _knew_ that Kaiba was waiting to hear her answer. She took a deep breath and let it out, trying not to completely lose her cool.

Looking back up at Duke, she frowned and replied. "Busy tutoring _Mokuba_ Kaiba actually, Duke. If you bothered coming to school on a regular basis, you would have heard that conversation.” Although her reply began on a calm note, it became increasingly more venomous toward the end. Duke narrowed his eyes into a glare, moving away and to his own seat in the back of the room.

Kaiba glanced at her from the corner of his eye, not trusting himself to look at her directly. She already had her nose back in her book, but she smirked at his comment.

“And _that_ is why I’m avoiding irritating you.”

 


	7. Confusion and Doubt

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> When Kia Boulevarde moves to Domino City after years of being tossed from orphanage to orphanage, she isn't prepared for the sudden attention she receives from THE Seto Kaiba.  
> But she suddenly begins to have strange dreams about him, in which he hurts her or betrays her in some way or another. These dreams leave her feeling nauseous and downright uncomfortable in his presence. In short, she becomes afraid of him.  
> It couldn't have anything to do with the fact that she's living with Yami Bakura... Or could it?
> 
> Reposted and changed dramatically from FF.Net. Hopefully I've improved it.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I realised that there were quite a few mistakes in this chapter when I read through it again. That's what I get for posting late at night without a beta-reader.

It was Friday evening, and while the class was waiting impatiently for the final bell to toll, Téa leaned over to Yugi and dared to ask him a question. The young man was lost in a daydream, his memories of Pharaoh Atem clouding his mind, leading him to believe that he was still there, with him.

"Yugi, have you noticed that Kaiba's actually _talking_ to somebody?" Téa's concerned voice startled poor Yugi out of his day dream, but he hadn’t properly heard what she had said. He made a small squeal in reply to her question, looking down at the newest word scratched onto the desk he was sitting at. ‘Fear’, written all in capitals, looking up at him menacingly. Had _he_ written that? It wasn’t there before, and it definitely looked new.

His loose worry was again interrupted by Téa, who exclaimed that Kaiba could be _interested_ in Kia. He looked up to find her staring at the pair, her hands crossed in thought, as she pondered whether or not Kaiba could like someone.  "Yes Téa, I know…” Yugi gained her attention and sighed, his hand covering the scratches in the dirty wooden desk. "I tried inviting her to the shop yesterday, but she said she was busy this evening…"

"With Kaiba?!" She squeaked as she asked for clarification, earning an irritated glare from the mentioned C.E.O. Kia looked back too and smirked, winking at Kaiba and making him glare at her. Yugi instantly threw a hand over Téa’s mouth, hoping to avoid another loud outburst. “Téa, not so loud! And no! She’s tutoring Mokuba, remember?”

Téa pouted beneath his palm and Yugi was momentarily distracted by the felling of her lips against his skin. "Well that's what you implied…” Her words became a pile of mush against his hand, making both of them giggle at their display. I’d forgotten about it though, until she barked at Duke about it yesterday. "I didn’t realise she was actually doing it…”

Téa and Yugi kept a wary eye on Kia and Kaiba for the remainder of the class, despite the fact that both were basically ignoring the other.

 

* * *

 

That evening, Kia and Kaiba sat in the living room of the Kaiba mansion, talking quietly to one another over a cup of tea. Mokuba had finished his lessons for the evening and had disappeared to play some video games, leaving Kaiba and Kia by themselves to talk. Ryou had gone with Yugi and the group to the arcade, meaning Kia had to wait at the mansion until she could enter his house.

So far, she had told Kaiba how Joey had described Kaiba to her when she had first moved to Domino. "So Wheeler told you that I was a spoilt man-child, who thinks of nobody but myself and spends most of my time either playing duel-monsters or running my company?" Kaiba sounded somewhat amused at the description, his smirk adding to his handsome features. Kia giggled, a little nervous to be alone with him.

"Yeah, he doesn't seem to like you very much Kaiba..." she mumbled, wringing her hands mindlessly. Kaiba smirked even more and told her the feelings were mutual, and that he had no time for people like the Mutt. She rolled her eyes, his reply seeming a little rude to her. He was sitting on the carpet against the couch, while Kia lay out on the carpet about two feet away, staring up at the ceiling. That dream she had three nights ago was bothering her a lot, but she had no-one to talk to about it. “You're always at each other's throats..." She added distantly, her focus somewhere other than the Kaiba Mansion.

Kaiba watched her silently for a moment, taking in her more tired appearance and the distant look on her features. "You're bothered by something.” Kia took in a sharp breath as he spoke, and wondered how he knew she was upset. She turned to face him, noticing that he had moved closer toward her. She blushed at the idea of telling him about the dream, especially when he was suddenly so close to her.

She looked away as she spoke, not trusting herself to look him in the eye. "I had dream a couple of nights ago, that's all..." With that said, she faced him and offered a small smile, sitting upright so that she wouldn’t feel as embarrassed. His eyebrow raised in curiosity, unconvinced that a dream was causing her so to be distant and thoughtful.

"Do you want to talk about it?” His offer caught Kia off-guard, but Kaiba continued speaking. "I know Mokuba used to struggle with nightmares." Ah, so that’s why he offered to listen. He was used to comforting his little brother. Kia looked down at her legs and frowned, wondering how she could be polite but still refuse to talk about it.

"Well..." She scratched at her arm. "I don’t really want to discuss it, it's awkward to explain..." She looked back at him apologetically, waiting for him to _insist_ that she tell him. Instead, he simply smirked and took his cup of tea from the nearby coffee table and took a sip, before relying nonchalantly.

"I didn't realise you meant _that_ kind of dream, Miss Boulevard. I won't ask for the details…" Kia’s face became red with the implication that she experienced a sexual dream. She squeaked in response and slapped his leg, the only part of his body that she could comfortably reach. His eyebrows shot upwards in amusement, as he placed his cup back onto the table.

 "It wasn't _that_ kind of dream.” Her hand moved to her mouth, covering it while she giggled. “What I meant was you were in it and it’s awkward to expl..." As soon as she said it, she covered her mouth with both of her hands and blushed even more. Kaiba raised an eyebrow, which made her insides flutter. Did it always look that attractive when he did that?

Kaiba’s head tilted to one side and he observed her carefully, his mind working overtime to understand what she had just said. "I was in your dream?" He then smirked and looked down at his crossed legs casually, thinking of yet another way to tease her. "Was I portrayed as the selfish attention seeker Wheeler described me to be?” Despite his mocking, he was honestly curious and waited patiently for Kia to reply.

"No..." she eventually whispered. She looked down at the floor and ran her fingers through the long caramel carpet, wondering how she should say it to him. "You, uh... creeped me out..." She felt foolish using that wording, but that was the only way she could tell him how the dream was without explaining that he left her to choke on her own blood.

Kaiba frowned, not expecting the choice of wording. "I… Creeped you out?" Now he was confused. He stared at her as she sat upright on the carpet, paying little attention to her black attire. He waited for a moment as she stared into space, clearly upset. "Kia, how did I creep you out? What did I do?" A sly grin stretched over her features as she faced him, and he wondered if she was feeling alright.

"Well _Seto_ …" Placing emphasis on his first name, she sighed and looked down at her legs again. "We were here in your living room, lying on the floor..." As she spoke, she realised that both of them were on the floor of his living room like they had been in the dream, and she suddenly felt uncomfortable with how familiar everything was to her. She looked up at him and saw his frown, and became wary that he might have been pissed with her for using his given name. “I only used your first name because you used mine…”

Kaiba raised his eyebrows in surprise, before frowning once more. "I don’t care. Explain how lying on my floor is creepy.” Kia sucked in a breath and held it, hoping for something or someone to interrupt the awkward conversation. She wished that she hadn’t mentioned the dream at all now, or that she would at least have the bravery to tell him what had happened. Remembering that Mokuba was upstairs somewhere, she looked toward the door and prayed that he would walk in at that moment.

But he didn’t, and Kaiba was growing impatient. He moved so that he was directly in front of her, his eyes connecting with hers and demanding that she continue. "I was confused in the dream, I didn't know why I was here. I… turned over and saw you lying next to me… And I asked what was going on, but then you..." She trailed off, looking down at the carpet, unable to finish her sentence.

Kaiba wasn’t sure, but he thought he had seen that expression before. Unsure of what it meant, he quietly asked another question. "What did I do? Did I hurt you?" Hearing him say it aloud seemed to make Kia realise how ridiculous it really was.

She smiled at him, a small smile that Kaiba was sure she had forced. "Nothing." Then the smile grew in size and sincerity, and she seemed to be more content as she brushed some imaginary dirt form her legs. Kaiba continued to frown and asked if he was going to hurt her in the dream. For him, the worst nightmares he and Mokuba had revolved around someone hurting them, which was why he was so intent on knowing why Kia was ‘creeped out’. It wasn’t a phrase he had used or would use, and he felt odd using it to describe the situation at hand.

Kia shook her head, waving her hands dismissively in the air as she did. Kaiba caught her hands in his and held them, muttering that he didn’t like secrets. She stared at his hands holding hers, the butterflies suddenly erupting in her stomach and making her feel nauseous. "It seemed like you were going to kiss me..." She barely registered that the words had left her mouth until Kaiba pulled away slightly, apparently offended by what she had said.

"You don’t like the idea of me trying to kiss you? You’re definitely not a fangirl.” His calm statement was a stark contrast to his offended expression, and Kia frowned in frustration. She didn’t realise that Kaiba was _indeed_ interested in her, so her comment put Kaiba out.

She looked down at the carpet again, sighing as she spoke. "You were going to kiss me, then you… Just left…”Omitting the stabbing part, she continued on. "It was the fact that you decided _not_ to kiss me and just left is what made me upset. I… I’ve been rejected all my life, and to think that the one friend I have would just leave me...” Her eyes closed as she tried to block it all out, wondering if her hands were sweating within Kaiba’s hands. “Coupled with the fact that you seemed to _want_ to kiss me, it was daunting to me because I haven’t kissed someone before.”

“So you’re afraid of rejection? Me walking away? And not so much the kissing part?" She nodded quickly, humming a little as she did. She looked down at her hands still in his grasp, and became curious when his hands tightened around hers slightly. When she looked up to face him, she wasn’t aware of how close he had been and barely registered when his lips brushed against hers.

 

* * *

 

Over in the arcade, some few miles away, Bakura suddenly found himself in control of Ryou’s body. There was a sudden surge of energy from Kia in the mansion, and Bakura had taken over control without meaning to. He excused himself from the group of friends he was with, making his way into the toilets and locking himself into a cubicle. Looking down at his hands, he could _taste_ the fear emanating from the young girl, and he smiled cruelly at his long fingers, wondering what was happening in the Kaiba Mansion at that point in time. 

Soon, he would have enough energy to bring Zorc back into this world, and he would become the Thief King once more.

He suddenly collapsed to the floor, the sudden energy he had felt disappearing almost immediately and leaving a drained feeling in its wake. He cursed as he lost control of his vessel, receding into the darkest point of Ryou’s mind, and watched, exhausted, as Ryou took stock of his surroundings.

“Not again… Godammit!” Bakura was impressed to see the white-haired boy show some emotion as he began throwing profanities around the toilet stall. “I.. I’ll have to head home. I can’t be blacking out in public…” Taking out his phone, he texted Kia to let her know he was locking his front door at eleven. Then he made his way back to his friends, telling them that he needed to leave.


	8. When Dreams Become Reality

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This is a bit of a turning point in Kia and Kaiba's relationship, but it gets soiled by Bakura's interference in the next chapter or so.   
> I also realised that the chapter summary I've been posting is just the summary for the overall story, so I'm going to stop doing that >.

Kia panicked when she realised that Kaiba was kissing her. Her eyes closed as soon as his lips brushed against hers, her heartbeat quickening to the point where she wondered if she would suffer a heart attack. Her hands were still in his firm grip, but she could feel the tingling sensation on her fingertips as she tried to make sense of what was happening.

Kaiba pulled away, smirking as confidently as ever, paying attention to her expression. Noticing that her eyes were closed and that she was still holding her breath, he reached toward her with his hand and brushed her cheek, his smirk disappearing. "Did I do something wrong?" His whisper caused her to open her eyes and look at him, and she shivered under his gaze. He was concerned about her, yet _again_ , and she could feel his hand on her cheek.

Still trying to decipher whether or not it had actually happened, she shook her head. "Um, no…" She turned away, a blush forming on her cheeks. Kaiba could feel the heat rising in her face and his smirk threatened to return. "I should go..." she finally mumbled, tugging on the hand that was still in Kaiba’s and trying to stand up. He wouldn’t release her, his hand locked firmly but gently around her wrist, as he held onto her and thought over what he had done.

His eyebrows knitted together as he appraised her behaviour. "If I didn’t do anything wrong, then why are you trying to leave?” When Kia looked at him again, she recognised the look on his face to be a more serious version of Mokuba’s puppy-dog eyes. “You said in your dream _I_ was the one to leave. And now _I’m_ staying, and _you’re_ trying to leave. This doesn’t make any sense…”

“I’m embarrassed, that’s why I think I should go.” Silence fell between them, and Kaiba let his hand drop from her face. He shrugged and was about to let her leave, thinking it would be best for her at this point. He felt uncomfortable after kissing her, which was not what he had been anticipating. To be honest, if she had slapped him for his actions, it would have made a lot more sense than this and would have out his mind at ease. “Can I ask you something?” Her timid voice brought his attention back to her, and he looked up to face her.

Her eyes seemed to hold more blue than grey on this particular day, and Kaiba puzzled over this for a second before replying. “Yes.” Kia raised an eyebrow at that, a smile gracing her lips. But when nothing was asked for a minute or so, Kaiba became impatient. “Are you going to ask me, or-“

Kia’s spare hand clamped over his mouth, surprising him. “Give me a moment, I need to think of how to phrase it.” Kaiba’s hand took hers from his face and held it with the other, while he gave her a look to tell her that he wouldn’t let her do that again. Her blush remained on her face as she spoke again, taking in a deep breath before she did. “You said… The other night… That you see things you’re interested in…” Kaiba nodded in agreement, wondering where she was going with this. “Do… Do you see _me_?”

Kaiba tilted his head to the side, taunting her by not answering straight away. She wondered if he was thinking about the question, of if he was going to tell her what he had meant by that statement. His voice, calm as always, broke her train of thought. “Yes.” She gently took her hands from his and rubbed at her face, mumbling something to herself. “I noticed you when you first arrived a few months ago. You intrigue me.”  

His words made no sense to her, as she fell backwards until she was lying out on the carpet again. “I must be dreaming again… This is all very strange…” Her mumbles were clearly heard by Kaiba this time, as he stretched out silently beside her and observed her. Yes, she intrigued him. Because of her unusual ways.

The majority of girls in Domino High, as well as Kaiba’s class, were obsessed with him. They would send him fan-mail, and try to pair with him for group work in class and the like. But Kia Boulevard had taken little or no notice of him when she entered the class for the first time. She took her seat and took notes diligently, wasting no time ogling at him from the front of the class. That was the second thing Kaiba had noticed, and liked about her. The first was her appearance; confident, properly dressed and… The word ‘beautiful’ wasn’t usually in Seto Kaiba’s vocabulary, but he found himself staring at her more often than not.

Returning to the situation at hand, he listened intently to her muttering, interested in her choice of wording. "Do you dream about me often?" After hearing her deny that she was awake several times, he could only imagine that she dreamt of him on more than one occasion. However, she shook her head and told him that he had only ever been in one of her dreams, and that was the one from a few nights ago.

"No Kaiba, it was only the one a few nights ago..." Her arm was now draped across her face, hiding her immediate blush when his query tickled her ear. She was very aware of how close he was, but she didn’t try to move away from him. The fact that he hadn’t left her yet, or attacked her with a knife, seemed positive and she wanted to stay beside him for as long as she could.

Kaiba hummed slightly, the vibration somehow tickling Kia’s ear again. “I didn’t mind when you called me Seto.” She took her arm from her face and looked over at him, then sat upright on the carpet and looked around the room in wonder. Her phone suddenly vibrated and she took it from her pocket, studying the message from Ryou.

“Ryou’s heading home now. He’ll be locking the front door at eleven…” She sighed, staring at the phone in disbelief. Kaiba sat up and grunted an acknowledgement, before suggesting that she stay for a little while longer. She agreed, before standing and facing Kaiba.

He stood to face her properly, his six-foot figure making her five-foot four figure look even smaller. “Would… Would you show me the basement garage? And the elevator? I’ve been kind of curious about it for a while…” Kaiba raised an eyebrow but nodded, showing his confusion at her strange request. He then reached out and took her hand, leading her into the front hall and then over to the staircase, revealing a door in the wooden panelling. This he opened, and Kia looked down to see a narrow, spiral stairway, set into rock. 

“If you think you’re going to fall, then do. I’ll catch you.” At Kaiba’s strange offer, Kia looked down at he stepped backwards into the narrow stairway, motioning for her to come toward him. He took her hands in his and led her down the steps expertly, with Kia wondering at how steep they were. Kaiba definitely had longer legs than she did, and she caught herself before she began to think more about Kaiba’s long legs.

“It feels like there should be torches down here, not halogen lights.” Distracting herself, she looked up at one of the small lights set into the rock and she smirked, thinking of Kaiba as a vampire. Her foot suddenly slipped from the step she was standing on, and she fell forward, gasping as Kaiba caught her arms and held her steady.

“Um, thanks…” She really didn’t know what to say. Kaiba had warned her to be careful, and yet she was looking at the lights. The goddamn _lights_. They eventually made it to the end of the stairs and saw three people; a maid, a butler and a chef. They were each sitting on dark green couches, the stone walls reflecting the green and giving the stone room a warm atmosphere. Kia could see a passageway lined with doors to her left, reminding her once again of Alice in Wonderland. She mumbled a muted 'hello' as Kaiba nodded at his staff, who then bowed in response, before he led her into the garage. The assortment of sports cars and SUVs didn’t impress her much, (She hadn’t an interest in cars really), but the elevator in the back of the room intrigued her. She walked toward it eagerly, with Kaiba following close behind.

It was fairly simple, being a flat piece of metal with springs and an arm beneath it to push it upwards. Kia looked all around it in amazement, noticing the upwards arrow and downwards arrow on the wall, then watched as Kaiba stepped onto the metal plate. She followed and he pushed the arrow button on the wall that was aimed to the sky, as she looked up and watched the wooden shed come closer and closer. Looking around her, she could see that the walls of the elevator were made of glass, so she could see the soil profile quite clearly as they moved upwards.

It shuddered slightly as it came to a stop in the wooden garage on the surface, and Kia turned to Kaiba to ask him something. "So how long has this been here?" He looked at her from across the metal plate, arms folded, leaning seductively against the wall of the lift and staring softly at her. He didn't realise what he was doing, however, and answered her question oblivious to her thoughts.

"Gozaburo had it built into the mansion so his tanks and other murder weapons could be brought up with ease from his basement" As he spoke, he saw the guilt fill her face and she turned away. Kia knew Gozaburo Kaiba was a sensitive topic for Kaiba to talk about, so for her to be so interested in something he designed for weapons seemed surreal.

"Oh, I… I'm sorry I asked such an awkward question Kaiba…" Her mumble made Kaiba chuckle and she faced him again, confused. His arms dropped from their place across his chest and his hands were shoved into his pockets, a sign of relaxation, Kia had come to realise.

"It wasn't awkward at all Miss Boulevard. You asked a perfectly normal question and I answered." His answer relieved her somewhat, but his decision to call her by her second name had her wincing in protest.

"Don't call me that..." she dared to mutter. Kaiba smirked, walking closer toward her. By the time he had reached her side, she was staring at him with eyes as round as saucers.

"I'll stop calling you Miss Boulevard when you stop calling me Kaiba.”

Kia turned away from him, surprised at his forwardness. Kia was starting to think that maybe agreeing to work with Mokuba had been a bad idea. She didn’t know what Kaiba wanted from her, and her fear of the unknown was starting to grate on her. She suddenly decided that she should head home, and Kaiba nodded, requesting his Lamborghini from the garage and standing out, motioning for Kia to follow. She turned her head to him in confusion, as the butler approached from the mansion with her schoolbag.

"You are not walking home." He told her, his hand taking her bag from the butler. She pouted, about to speak when he spoke again. "It might only be fall, but it's still cold." Kia frowned and sighed again, looking up to the evening sky. The mansion was a ways out of the city centre, meaning she could see the stars. It was an invigorating scene, the dark blue night sky littered with hundreds of tiny white lights.

“I assume this is the evolution of your _insisting_ to help me, isn’t it Seto? You’re going to just tell me what’s happening from here on, aren’t you?” Her small jest at his behaviour had him smirking all over again, as he turned to face her fully.

Tilting his head, he studied her for a long moment. "You're very perceptive Kia.” And nothing more was said until Kaiba left her at Ryou’s house. 

 


	9. The Beginning of the End

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So I started back at college today, Been away from the place four months, but it feels like I never left :') Super nerd over here!  
> I don't really know where this story is heading, I have nearly twelve chapters re-edited while there were originally sixteen and an epilogue. We'll see what I come up with, shall we?  
> Thank you so much for anyone reading this! x

Bakura scoffed as he typed into the virtual reality pod again. Creating a new reality that would play with her new memories from that day was his intention, and he smirked as he finished the coding. Sighing with pride at his handiwork, he stealthily moved out of the games room and into Kia’s room, watching her sleep for a while. He bit back laughter as he eventually approached Kia’s sleeping form, wondering how she hadn’t noticed anything unusual about him yet.

Bakura had been in control of Ryou’s body since Kia returned home, and although Bakura knew that his presence altered Ryou’s appearance, Kia never seemed to notice. Scooping her into his arms, he had no fear that she would wake.

He had dosed her tea with enough sleeping pills to knock someone out for well over twelve hours. “It’s a good thing you went to bed early.” Bakura chuckled darkly as he placed her into the pod. “You won’t wake up for a while.”

 

**~*~*~ Dream ~*~*~**

When Kia opened her eyes, Kaiba had just pulled back from kissing her. She blushed and looked down, seeing their hands clasped together, before realising that they were sitting on the floor of Kaiba’s living room. 

Kaiba was suddenly standing, tugging her upright gently. "Come on, you wanted to see the elevator." His hands brought her up swiftly and he led her out into the foyer, revealing the staircase within the staircase. Remembering her incident earlier that day, she tensed and gazed down into the darkened staircase nervously. “I’ll catch you.” Kaiba’s voice hit her ear and reassured her at once, as he took lead once again and helped her down without falling.

There was nobody in the basement. Kia looked around, hoping to see the nice butler, but he was nowhere to be seen. And to make matters stranger, the elevator had been stopped a few feet up from its resting place. Kia moved forward carefully, marvelling at the spring and the arm that it was attached to. She had an interest in mechanics and how things moved, though she had no training in the subject and was basically ignorant to the mechanisms she was looking at.

Kaiba ducked under the metal platform, making his down into the gap beneath it. Where he stood was a few inches below the floor of the basement, and Kia watched as he seemed to find something of interest while looking at the platform from below. He beckoned for Kia to follow and so she did, finding it to be very interesting looking at it from a different angle. She failed to notice Kaiba make his way back out from under the platform, suddenly realising that the elevator had been turned back on, threatening to crush her.

She hunched over and tried running to the opening, having to drop to her hands and knees to keep moving in the shrinking space. Seeing Kaiba by the control panel, she called out for his help. "Seto help me!"

He ignored her.

Her heartbeat was thrumming in her ears, the blood rushing to her fingers and toes in a rush of fear and adrenaline, as the sound of the metal descending on top of her pierced the air and caused her more panic. The platform was only a foot above her head as she dropped onto her stomach, and tried to worm her way over to the entrance. Her fingertips grazed the lightly raised edge of the floor as the metal pressed heavily on her body, her ribcage and pelvis splintering under the weight of it.

She screamed at the pain, clenching her fists and having spots appear in her vision as she looked up toward Kaiba once again for help. He had turned away from her, seemingly talking to someone else, as she felt the metal push her already crushed body even further into the metal beneath her. She gasped, blood spurting onto her lips, as her ribs punctured her lungs and filled them with blood.

"Seto, please..." It was a breath, a faint whisper as the pain took a hold of her. In the back of her mind, she knew that the elevator would have crushed her long before now, unless someone had turned it onto a lower speed setting when it first made contact with her body. Kaiba finally turned around, the disinterested look in his eyes obvious, as he guided the girl whose waist he held within his grasp into Kia’s view.

The platform jolted downwards and settled into its assigned place, with Kia’s lifeless body beneath it.

**~*~*~**

 

Kia jostled awake and squeaked, the remnants of her dream at the forefront of her mind. It was Monday afternoon, and Kia was lying out on the grass in the schoolyard beside Kaiba during their lunch. To be more specific, Kaiba had followed her to her preferred eating spot, so _he_ was sitting beside _her_. When she squealed herself awake, his gaze left his laptop immediately and settled on her confused and fearful face.

"What's wrong?" His voice was low, probably to keep face in front of his peers. Yugi's group of friends were sitting at the nearby table, and Kia could only imagine the embarrassment of showing his softer side in front of them. Joey stood from his seat as soon as Kia woke, running over and kneeling beside her.

His arm wrapped around her carelessly, making Kia squirm a little in his clutch. "What'd you do to her, Kaiba?" His demand made Kaiba frown, and he replied as calm as ever.

"I did nothing, Wheeler." As soon as the words had left his lips, he mentally kicked himself for even bothering to grace Joey with a reply. Kia shrugged out of Joey’s grasp as Kaiba thought his response over, wondering if there was a way to redeem himself.

Joey wouldn’t give up, even when it was clear that Kia didn’t want his help. "I swear Kaiba, if ya hurt her or anything, I'll-" Kia’s voice cut off his threat, earning herself mystified stares from both men.

"I fell asleep and had a nightmare." Joey flinched slightly at the coldness in her voice, her discomfort obvious as she spoke. "Or is it a day-mare, considering its day...?" Her voice became thoughtful as she contemplated it, oblivious to Kaiba’s interested gaze.

Joey patted himself off, as though he had dust on his blue school jacket. "I'm watchin’ you, Kaiba..." he finally muttered, skulking back to Yugi’s table. Kaiba glared after him, before putting his laptop on the suitcase resting on the grass beside him and then turning to face Kia fully.

His eyebrow raised in curiosity as he appraised her. Was this nightmare the same as the other she had had? The one where he was going to kiss her? "Nightmare? What happened this time?” Seto Kaiba was pushy when it came to answering questions, but Kia did not want to tell him what had happened.

Her dreams made no sense to her anymore. In the first she’d had, he had killed her for her hesitation when he moved to kiss her. That seemed to be simple enough to digest; her crush was making its way into her subconscious and conjuring up dreams where she basically gets what she wants. When he killed her though, she had put that down to her telling herself that he wasn’t interested in her in that way. In her most recent dream, he had brought her into the basement to show her something she was interested in and then used it to kill her, while showing her his love interest. Sighing, she wondered if she had ever seen Kaiba with the mysterious girl in the dream. "Nothing. Its fine, Seto..."

Her arm reached out to grab her bag, and she meant to pull out Mokuba’s lesson plan to read over. Kaiba’s longer arm stretched out and pulled her bag out of her reach, making her sigh again. "Tell me Kia." The concern on his face was masked well, Kia had to admit that. She had never really noticed a difference between his behaviour at school, and his behaviour at home, but now she could see the walls he erected to keep everyone out.

She glared down at her bag, just out of reach, in his grasp. "The typical feeling of falling. I told you it was nothing..." Her mumbled rely didn’t convince Kaiba, and he raised an eyebrow with contempt. She looked up and smiled at him, trying to reassure him that she was alright and convince herself of the same. "I'm telling you, it's..." Her smile dissipated when she saw the girl from her dream walk slowly passed them.

The girl had platinum blonde hair, clearly from a bottle, and heavy face makeup. The foundation line between her slender, tanned neck and her suspiciously paler jawline was disgustingly obvious, and the heavy shade of lilac she had on her eyelids made her look ill. The false lashes she wore were peeling at the corners, but the girl was confident enough to _bat her eyelashes_ at Kaiba’s oblivious figure as she strolled by.

Kaiba paid her no heed, watching Kia carefully as she stared at the girl with a deadly glare. He wondered why she was staring at her in such a way, and suddenly felt uncomfortable as Kia refused to take her eyes off of her. His hand reached out and poked her, breaking her from her stare and directing her gaze over to him. “Why were you glaring at Sora Amori?”

Kia looked back in the direction where Amori had disappeared to, narrowing her eyes before looking back at Kaiba. "Do you see her too?" Her question caught him off-guard and he took in a sharp breath, releasing it slowly and answering breathily.

“Not in the same way I see you.” His words made Kia’s insides quiver, the intensity of their meaning making her feel ridiculous for even considering that Kaiba would play around with her feelings. “Are you jealous of her?” The mocking tone in his voice contrasted with his earlier tone, and Kia narrowed her eyes, making him chuckle.

"So, what were you doing on your laptop?" She wanted to change the subject, and fast. She looked like a crazy fangirl right then. As Kaiba explained that his new VR machines were buggy and potentially dangerous, Kia gripped his arm and leaned closer to him. She felt him stiffen under her touch and she froze, then took her hand off his arm. "I used one about a week ago... Am I in danger?" Her eyes found his and she waited for him to respond, noticing his gaze was directed at his arm where her hand had been a moment before.

"Perhaps. What function did you use?" He was immediately interested in what she had to say. She looked down at her feet and told him that she used the memory function, which resulted in him asking her to tell him what memory she had used and what she remembered.

She blushed as she explained it all in a rush. "The memory of us eating the first meal you made me, the pasta. We spoke about the orphanage and I washed my plate, and you told me I didn’t have to. In the machine though, it was different.” She frowned as she remembered Kaiba’s unnecessary concern, his hands cradling her face and making her feel secure.

"How so?" Kaiba smirked as her blush crept back onto her face, wondering what had happened in the machine to make her blush so much. Kia brought her hands together and started to fidget. 

"You… Uh, touched my face… And you seemed to think I was upset or something…” Kaiba was smirking at her. "What?" She narrowed her eyes suspiciously, eyeing his amused face. His hand moved up to cup her cheek, much like in the dream, making her face flush even more and her heartbeat quicken.

"As worrying as it is that your memory wasn’t properly relayed…” His thumb stroked her cheekbone gently as he spoke. Kia stopped breathing. “It seems that perhaps the bug is mixing reality with fantasy."

Embarrassed, she pushed his hand away. "Shut up.” She turned her reddening face away from him, crossing her arms. “Your ego goes straight to your head.” Joey had watched the entire ordeal, and ran over again when he saw Kia push Kaiba away from her.

He stopped beside Kia and yanked on her arm, dragging her upward and holding her above the ground. She was short, she knew that, but never did she think that she would be _dangling_ two feet in the air. "C'mon Kia, we'll let ya eat in peace" he told her loudly, meaning to bring her over to the table. Téa ran over and grabbed Joey's arm, trying to lower Kia to the ground.

"Let her go Joey!" Téa’s annoying voice didn’t annoy Kaiba for once, as he stood quickly and moved toward the trio. Kia suddenly kicked Joey's shin, terrified of being so high up and caused him to yell out, dropping her as he did. Kaiba caught onto her and held her steady, her uneven breathing worrying him more.

Turning to Joey, who was holding himself in pain, Kaiba growled out the most polite sentence he could muster. "Wheeler, get your good for nothing existence out of here, or I'll make you sorry." Not even bothering to see if he had listened, Kaiba turned to Kia and dropped his voice down low, making sure only she would hear him. “Did he hurt you?”

Looking at the arm Joey had grabbed, Kia sighed as she saw the speckling of light blue bruises decorating her arm. “I actually bruise really easily..." She mumbled incoherently, unsure of the sudden rage in Kaiba’s glare. He ran his cold fingers softly over her arm, making Kia hold her breath again, before he turned around and looked at Joey. His voice was dangerously low as he spoke.

"Wheeler…”


	10. Story Time

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So there is more Gaelic Irish in this story, after some more of Joey Wheeler's fun-to-type Brooklyn accent.
> 
> For those of you who like to read things in full, here is the pronunciation;   
> 'Fianna' is pronounced Fee-anna (But as one syllable)  
> 'Oisín' is pronounced Ush-sheen  
> 'Niamh' is pronounced Nee-have (The word 'have' without a 'h', so av...)   
> 'Tír na nÓg' is pronounced as Teer Nah Know-g (The G is hard; yes I know how that sounds), and translates as 'Land of the Young'

“Wheeler….”

Joey Wheeler hadn’t moved away from Kia and Kaiba when he ordered him to, so he was definitely within earshot when Kaiba addressed him. Joey’s stance changed, as did Kaiba’s, and Kia worried that a fight would break out. She caught onto Kaiba’s arm, demanding to know what he was going to do.

"Whaddaya have ta say, _Kaiba_?" Joey’s nasally voice broke through the tension in the air, everyone tensing as his emphasis resonated through the now silent school yard. Kaiba placed a reassuring hand on Kia’s, still resting on his arm, and turned to Joey. His eyes narrowed and his voice dropped low, dangerously low, as he spoke smoothly to the annoying blonde.

"Stay away from Miss Boulevard. If you get too close to her, she'll tell me and I'll have you put away for the rest of your days. Do you understand?" Kia looked up into his face in shock. Joey? Arrested? For getting too close to her? She opened her mouth to retract Kaiba’s statement, but Joey had already addressed her.

Sighing, he ran a hand through his hair and asked; "Do ya want me ta leave ya alone?" Kia took her time to think over Kaiba’s proposition, and decided Joey was safe enough as long as she didn’t report back to Kaiba about him too often. She finally nodded, aware of the glares from Téa, Yugi and Tristan. "Fine by me, I was tryin ta protect ya is all..." Joey informed her, throwing his hands into the air in defeat and walking back to the table. Yugi and Tristan had stood from their seats to run over and help when Joey had Kia in the air, and they offered him reassurances as he made to sit down again.

Téa stood there defiantly arms crossed, a glare from her azure eyes. "I'm sorry Kia, or Miss Boulevard, for what Joey did. He thinks… No, he _knows_ Kaiba is going to hurt you. He’s trying to protect you." And with that, she turned and stomped away.

Kaiba had ignored the ignorant brunette and looked down at the brunette still grasping his arm. "You alright?" His low query breathed against her ear and she sighed, taking her hands from his arm and walking back toward her forgotten schoolbag. Kaiba’s eyes widened slightly in surprise, and Kia found herself clarifying what she was doing in response.

"Class will be starting soon, we should head over..." Kaiba nodded in understanding and bent down to retrieve his suitcase and laptop, when Duke Devlin suddenly reached over and grabbed at Kia’s bag. He held it from her, taunting her, informing her that she would only get it back if she agreed to _one_ date with him.

There was a loud ‘slap’ as Kia’s hand met Duke’s face, which sent him sprawling into the grass. Kaiba stared in shock at the assaulted man, before looking at Kia and seeing the anger in her grey-blue eyes. “I don’t have time for man-whores.”

 

* * *

 

That evening, Kia was tutoring her student in the Kaiba mansion. Mokuba had been reading the Gaelic Irish Legend “Oisín i Tír na nÓg” and was waiting for Kia to give him notes and vocabulary for the essay he had to write on it. Mokuba Kaiba had a deep fascination with other languages and cultures, hence why Kaiba spent plenty of money providing him with the best tutors he could find. He thoroughly enjoyed Kia’s lessons, and also enjoyed the fact that Kaiba was taking it easy at work during the week.

Kia began to speak in the silent room, a whiteboard marker in hand and a short list of ‘key points’ written on the new white board behind her. Kaiba had it installed the day before, thinking that it might help both Kia and Mokuba in their note-taking. "One of the most famous stories of Irish history, Oisín falls in love with a mysterious woman and..." Her voice died away as she realised Kaiba’s lean figure was leaning against the wall across from her. He waved his hand dismissively, motioning for her to continue speaking.

Kia tried to speak again, but Kaiba was suddenly the only thing in the room that she could focus on. Shaking her head, she faced Mokuba and asked; "Mokuba, have you read the story?" He nodded in confirmation, before Kia handed him a sheet of paper littered with notes and instructed for him to write out an essay on it.

"Why don’t you tell him the story?" As Mokuba spoke, he gestured toward his older brother, who was quite oblivious to what they were discussing. Kia nodded in agreement, turning to Kaiba as Mokuba left the room.

“Is it interesting?” Kaiba’s disinterested voice confused Kia. Why would he be standing in here, _listening_ to her, if he wasn’t even interested in the story? She shrugged that thought off, instead informing him that it _was_ interesting and beginning to tell him the story in full.

"Years ago, a small Irish army called the Fianna was training in a large glen in Ireland. The best warrior of the army was Oisín, and he trained with his father and the rest of the Fianna daily in preparation for war. One day, a beautiful woman on a magnificent white horse rode into the glen. Every warrior stopped their training and gazed upon this beauty.

“'I have come for Oisín' she declared, still perched on her horse. 'I have watched you for a while and I have decided that you should come to the ‘Land of the Young’ with _me_ , Niamh of the Golden Hair'"

"At first, Oisín did not want to go with her. Niamh was outraged and put a spell on him, so he would fall in love with her. He then asked his father if he could go with his love to the Land of the Young and his father reluctantly allowed him. He climbed onto the horse with her and they turned around to leave the way she arrived. The warriors followed to see where they travelled to, and were amazed to see the ocean parting for them to continue through the waves.

"Along the way, they came upon a town with a King in jeopardy. His daughter was locked in a tower by a large giant and Oisín offered to free her. The giant and he fought for three days and he eventually chopped off the giant's head. They set the princess free and continued on their way."

At this, Kaiba took a hold of her hand and led her into the kitchen, paying close attention to her every word. He took a pan of bread from the breadbox and motioned at Kia, hoping to ask her if she wanted something to eat. She nodded through her story, taking a seat at the breakfast bar, and Kaiba set about making sandwiches.

"So they arrived to The Land of the Young, and celebrated for seven days and seven nights. Oisín forgot completely about his family back home and started a new one with Niamh, having three sons with her. He stayed with her for many years, but began to miss his father. He asked if he could go back to see him.

"Niamh warned him three times not to get off of her horse while he was back in Ireland. He assured her that he would return to her side, safe and sound. He set off and arrived in Ireland quicker than he thought he would."

Kia suddenly looked down at her hands, clasped delicately in front of her. "When he arrived, everything had changed. He had been in the Land of the Young for over three hundred years. His father was long-gone and the Fianna had dissipated soon after his father’s death. He turned around to travel back to the Land of the Young and saw a group of men struggling to move a large boulder. He rode over and threw the boulder seven feet away from him.

"The men were in awe, looking at this strong young man on a beautiful horse. However, his foot slipped out of the saddle strap and he fell to the ground. The horse got scared and ran back to its owner, Niamh. Oisín became a shrivelled old man in seconds and lived long enough to tell his story to the patron saint of Ireland."

Kaiba scoffed at the ending, cutting the sandwiches with precision. “So he dies? What a way to end a story.” Kia opened her mouth to rebuke that statement, and offer that some stories with characters that die are interesting. Her dreams flashed through her mind, and she decided that she no longer thought of dying characters as romantic.

A plate was suddenly placed down in front of her, and smiled gratefully at Kaiba. Before she could verbally express her gratitude, the smell of chocolate hit her nose, and Kia looked down in disbelief. Sure enough, she saw the chocolate filling and started to giggle. "What's so funny?" Kaiba wasn't very happy to see her laughing at him, but he refrained from snapping at her.

"I thought you'd have something healthier in your sandwich..." His eyebrow raised in confusion and Kia giggled even more, barely able to breathe when Kaiba asked whether or not she liked chocolate. "I do, I really do..." She took a bite and hummed, inspecting the brown mess threatening to spill from the bread. “I just thought you ate really healthily…”

Kaiba didn’t even raise his sandwich from his plate. His eyes were fixated on her face, as he tried to make sense of what she was saying. "You think I’m healthy?" Kia looked up from her sandwich at his unsure voice, and immediately regretted it.

His blue eyes were intense as they gazed into hers, making her insides turn to goo and her brain stop functioning. "Uh, yeah..." Looking back down at the sandwich, she continued to eat, but more slowly this time. He had an eyebrow raised in the air and tilted his head to the side, waiting for her to elaborate.

When she didn’t, Kaiba clicked his tongue with impatience and addressed her. "What makes you think that?" He smirked as she tried her best to compose herself and answer, the blush rising in her face.

"Well, you certainly look healthy..." she began. Kaiba smirked even more, waving his hand in the air for her to continue. "Uh... You're not overweight and I'm sure you probably workout or something..." She looked down at her sandwich in embarrassment, barely registering when a cup of tea was placed in front of her.

"Don't be embarrassed." he told her. She giggled, telling him that she supposed she had to return the favour. Seeing his confused expression, she reminded him that he had commented on her appearance before and he rolled his eyes. "I didn't fully comment, I just stated that you're not anorexic..." Kia giggled at his abrupt reply, slipping a sly comment in just as he took a sip on his own tea.

“That doesn’t stop you from looking at my legs, though.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> For anyone interested in reading the actual story 'Oisín i Tír na nÓg', I can find it online and post a link. It's only available in Gaelic Irish I believe, but I could look around for a translated version of it.


	11. Exposed Fears

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Fifteen chapters, and that's including the epilogue. The sequel to this story is so incredibly terrible, I'm going to rewrite the entire thing. This was originally meant to have two sequels, but I gave up writing half way through the first; so a new goal I have this time is to put out all three stories as they should have been published. 
> 
> I plan to upload the rest of the chapters sometime this weekend. All but the epilogue are finished, but I'm currently working on it. I have college work to keep on top of too, but it hopefully won't affect my stories much. 
> 
> Thank you so much for reading! x

***~*~* Dream *~*~***

Kia was standing nervously in the entrance hall of the Kaiba Mansion, staring at the mysterious double doors she always passed by on her way to the kitchen or dining room. A feeling of dread filled her stomach, and while she couldn’t figure out why, she wanted to leave the mansion immediately. Kaiba was suddenly at her ear, inquiring in a hushed whisper whether or not she wanted to look inside.

She nodded reluctantly, nervous of Kaiba’s body being pressed up against hers. He moved away from her and threw open the doors, leading Kia into a strange room. It was divided into two sections; the front, which held a console of sorts, and the back, which was sectioned off from the front by a wall and a thick metal door. She was confused; what was all this? Kaiba motioned for her to step into the back part of the room, and she took a hesitant step inside.

Her feet landed unevenly and she looked down in wonder, noticing the large metal bars that ran across the floor in this part of the room. They continued in a grid-like pattern and up along the back wall, connecting to some sort of machine in the ceiling. Kia didn’t notice Kaiba pressing a button on the console until the metallic sound of a lock activating in a door resounded around the room. Kia looked down from the ceiling in surprise, finding the door closed.

"Seto?" He said nothing in response, perhaps he couldn’t hear her in the closed off room. She walked to the door and took the handle, twisting it to no avail. “It’s locked..?” Kia’s confusion was short lived when she realised the handle growing hotter by the second. In fact, the entire _room_ was getting hotter. Looking back toward the back of the room, she saw a raging fire in the machine on the ceiling, which was then transferring severe heat into the metal beneath her feet.

_She was in an incubator._

"Seto? LET ME OUT!" Her fists made contact with the metal door, her skin beginning to blister with every punch. Her thin tennis shoes began to stick to the metal bars, and soon she could feel the bare sole of her foot touching the metal. She looked down and tried to move her feet between the bars, hoping to avoid the majority of the heat, but the bars were too close together. Sweat poured form her forehead, making her bangs stick to her as she felt herself losing too much water all at once. Through a small window in the door, she saw Kaiba standing outside with Téa Gardner. _Gardner_.

Before she could register what she saw, blisters began forming on her skin and the skin on her hands began to peel off, as did the skin on her feet. She was still stuck to the metal bars, and couldn’t even move from one foot to the other. "Seto, please..." she rasped, dehydrated from the heat. Kaiba refused to even look at her as he led Téa out of the room. At that point, the pain from the heat dissipated and Kia watched him leave with tears in her eyes.

***~*~***

 

Bakura was carrying her sleep-induced body back to bed that evening when he had an epiphany. Kia Boulevard didn’t need to interact with others to feel pain anymore. He could simply create a virtual world, just for her torture, and he would have enough energy from her pain and suffering to carry out his plans.

He gazed into her face as he placed her back into her bed, noting the dark circles around her eyes and the look of worry that seemed to be permanently etched onto her once clear face. He couldn’t help but feel proud at how much he had accomplished in just short of two weeks of her torture.

But at the same time, he felt a fondness for her. He needed her to stay alive in order to give him life, but he also enjoyed her company. He didn’t want anything to happen to her, but if that’s what needed to happen for him to rule over this world, then so be it.

 

* * *

 

Kia awoke Saturday morning to the sound of her mobile phone ringing. She sighed at being woken up, despite the fact that it was past noon, and she reached out for her phone sleepily. Neglecting to check the caller ID, she assumed it was Yugi or Ryou, and simply answered it. "Hello?" Running a hand through her messy hair, she nearly yanked out a clump when Kaiba’s voice replied.

"Are you alright?” He sounded off. Kia listened in amazement to the uncertainty in his voice, before asking how he had her number. "Mokuba had it.” He seemed to be a little pissed that Kia hadn’t answered his question, and that she was more concerned with how he had her number. "Does that bother you?" Kia jumped out of bed and opened her trunk of clothes frantically. She felt horrible. She'd overslept and she felt ill and she felt tired and... "Kia. Are. You. Okay?"

The repetition of his earlier question brought Kia back from her self-pity and she mumbled a quick reply, looking for something to wear. Kaiba wasn't satisfied with her response, and told her as such, then demanded to know if she was alone. "I guess so, Ryou's car is gone..." She stepped to the window and looked out into the driveway, noticing the empty space. The phone suddenly cut off and Kia looked at it in confusion, before shrugging and tossing it onto her bed.

No more than seven minutes later, Kaiba’s Lamborghini pulled into the drive smoothly. Kia was too busy with finding clothes to see his car, but heard the doorbell when it rang around the house. She jogged downstairs to answer it, wary of her appearance. Her thin vest and small shorts were probably not appropriate to wear in public, but right at that moment, she didn’t care.

Seeing Kaiba in the doorway made her gasp in surprise and take a step backwards, one hand on her chest while the other clutched the door. "Might I come in?" She stared at him for a moment before standing aside and allowing him entrance into Ryou’s small home. The front hallway was small, with two doors leading to the living room and the kitchen, and the stairs which sat on the right as one walked through the door. Kaiba strode inside and waited for Kia to close the door, not quite knowing where to go.

She walked passed him (Awkwardly; there was limited space in the small room) and led him to the kitchen. "Can I get you something?" Kia rubbed at her tired eyes, disbelief flooding her system as she realised that Seto Kaiba was in the same house as her. It might have been even stranger if it had been her own house, but that was irrelevant right now.

Kaiba’s head tilted to one side, a smirk appearing on his face as he crossed his arms and settled his gaze on Kia. "I came to get you..." Get her? What was he going to do with her? Lock her in his office? Bring her to Kaiba Corp? What a ridiculous thing to say to her. Kaiba sighed when he realised how idiotic his words were, hoping to elaborate and explain that he suddenly had a bad feeling about her.

That sounded even worse. He could only imagine how she would react if he told her that. But… there was no other way to explain it. He had always chastised Ishizu Ishtar for her predictions and ‘feelings’, but now he had acted on a feeling he had about Kia Boulevard. He focused once more on her, and noticed that she was staring at him incredulously.

"Something's wrong Kia..." His words made sense to her; maybe he wanted to tell her that he no longer wanted her to tutor Mokuba? Or maybe that he would no longer allow her to invade his personal space. That seemed about right. And with her subconscious telling her over the past week or so that he wanted nothing to do with her, she had already accepted it.

But after he admitted to something being wrong, his hands moved to her face and brushed gently against the bags under her eyes. The frown that adorned her face that morning disappeared as he ran his fingertips across her forehead, making her close her eyes and take a deep breath. "You were perfect until I started talking to you... Perhaps I..." Kia couldn’t believe what he was doing, or saying, to her. When his voice dropped and he seemed to be suggesting that they stop talking, she opened her eyes and hastily pulled away from him.

Seeing his surprised face, she took a big gulp of air, before casually stating; “Perhaps you should, oh, I don’t know, stop talking to me? Is that what you want Kaiba? To stop talking to me?” Her voice began her sentence calmly, but rose as her fears came out into the open.

Kaiba frowned in confusion. "What are you talking about?” He couldn’t understand what was going on in her mind. He knew women were difficult to deal with, but he didn’t realise to what extent. “I could have hired anybody to tutor Mokuba. I chose to hire you for a reason.” 

She refused to look up at him. She thought she knew where he was going, and took the plunge. "You don't need me Kaiba.” Her eyes welled up, much to her irritation, and she glared down at the vinyl on the floor. “I think you should leave.” She sounded robotic as she spoke, as though she didn’t want him to leave, but thought it was the best thing to do.

Kaiba sighed and ran a hand through his hair. This was getting more and more ridiculous by the moment. What did she mean, he didn’t need her? Who said he _needed_ her? He preferred her company to others, was that a crime? Taking in Kia’s exhausted state, he wondered if there was an underlying problem he didn’t know about. "Kia, I'm not leaving until you tell me what's going on." Finding a comfortable spot against the countertop, he leaned back and kept his gaze on Kia’s face.

She sighed, looking up to the ceiling. "Nothing's going on, you just need to leave.” Her arms were now crossed, her frustration evident. Kaiba remembered when she slapped Duke Devlin so hard that he collapsed onto the grass in the school yard, and decided not to say anything more to upset her. Instead, he dropped his head, sniffling slightly as he did. Kia looked at him in shock, wondering what he was doing.

Oh my god, was he _crying_? "Kaiba?" Kia crept over slowly, waiting for him to reply or even look up at her. But his head remained low, and although it sounded a little bit like he was crying, Kia was sure that Seto Kaiba did not cry. "Um, Seto?" His arm suddenly caught onto her waist, pulling her toward him, and she gasped in surprise.

His blue eyes sought out her grey-blue ones, and he noticed once again that her eyes had changed colour. Ignoring this, he brought his face close to hers and whispered; "Why are you angry with me?" Kia had frozen at his suddenly close figure, her hands pressed against his chest in protest and her face not even millimetres away from his face. She couldn’t focus properly on what she was saying, and heard herself telling Kaiba about her dreams.

Kaiba listened carefully to each one, and Kia explained that she’d been having them repeatedly over the past week and a half. He waited or her to finish patiently, before shaking his head and smirking. "Kia, those are just dreams." Her eyes blinked in confusion in response to his statement. “I told you myself that I enjoy your company. You intrigue me.”

Kia paid full attention to Kaiba as he spoke, wondering what he meant by her being _intriguing_. She found herself crying at her confused feelings, uncertain of whether or not she should believe Kaiba or her intuition. Joey seemed adamant that Kaiba was going to hurt her, and while she didn’t want to believe him, Joey knew Kaiba a lot better than she did and she supposed he would know more about Kaiba’s personality.

Kaiba’s fingers brushed away the tear-streaks on her cheeks, coming to rest on her jawline. "Kia, why are you crying?" Should he leave her alone? Was he going too far? Kaiba knew nothing of personal space, or relationships. He had no idea how to deal with Kia’s meltdown.

She suddenly buried her face into his chest and began to sob noiselessly, soaking right through his trench-coat in seconds. "I want the nightmares to stop..." Her muffled admission elicited a nod of Kaiba’s head, as he allowed her to sob noiselessly into his chest for what seemed like forever.

She quietened after a while, her hands beginning to explore his chest and seeming to comfort her. Kaiba ignored her hands, until she mumbled against him once again. "Seto?" He didn’t reply, and waited for her to continue. "You _are_ fit..." Kaiba chuckled at that, her face darkening in colour and heating against him, as she pulled away and wiped her eyes. “I didn’t know chocolate gave you abs.”

Kaiba continued to chuckle, glad that she finally felt better. At her timid apology, Kaiba shook his head and smirked at her. “I honestly don’t mind you noticing.”


	12. It Unfolds

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Going to post the last few chapters all at once. And then retype a sequel sometime soon.

On Monday morning, Kaiba walked into the school homeroom expecting Kia to be sitting in her usual seat. But she wasn’t. He titled his head in surprise, taking his new seat beside hers and took out his laptop regardless. When Yugi and his group of friends entered the room a little while later, Kia still hadn’t arrived, and Kaiba was growing more and more worried. She would have told him if she were ill, wouldn’t she?

 Téa suddenly made her way over to Kaiba, her posture implying that she meant business. Kaiba rolled his eyes as she approached, hoping that whatever she wanted could be dealt with quickly. He had no time for her. "Hey, Kaiba… So, do you know where Kia is?" At the sound of her voice, Kaiba looked toward Kia’s chair and refrained from sighing.

“I don’t know, Gardner. I assume she’s sick.” There, that was more polite than he thought he would be. Téa and her friends didn’t seem too impressed with his reply, however, and as they surrounded his desk, Téa placed her hands on her hips and frowned. Kaiba continued his typing, ignoring their presence.

"You were probably the last person to talk to her. You should know if she’s okay." Her hands suddenly dropped onto the desk and she leaned toward him, peering at him suspiciously. Kaiba’s fingers kept typing. “Kaiba, was she at your place over the weekend?” the typing stopped and he raised his gaze, glaring at Téa through his bangs.

"I don't appreciate being accused of kidnapping." Secretly, he was concerned about Kia. After he left Ryou’s house on Saturday, he'd been thinking non-stop about her. Which annoyed him, as well as concerned him. He decided to call her again on Sunday, but she hadn’t picked up. He vaguely worried that she recognised the number and ignored him, but then concluded that she would have no reason to do so. He even went as far as driving by Ryou’s house that evening, seeing no car in the driveway and no lights in the windows. Now that Kia hadn’t appeared at school, the idea of kidnapping seemed plausible, but who would do such a thing?

Not him, that was for sure. As obsessed as he might have been with this mysterious girl, he wouldn’t stoop to that level and lock her up in his home, like Téa had suggested. "I'm not accusing you of anything Kaiba, I'm simply stating that y-" Téa's ramble was cut-off by Kaiba slamming his hands on the desk and standing abruptly.

" _I don’t know where she is_ , okay? Her absence is distressing me more than you could ever comprehend!" His voice rose in volume, his discomfort and concern aiding his response. Téa shrank back from him, into Yugi’s arms, and Joey and Tristan made to grab Kaiba. Before anything could happen, the teacher suddenly strolled in and saw their display.

"Mr Kaiba, Mr Wheeler and Mr Taylor! There will be no fighting in this school!” Her shrill voice caused Joey and Tristan to slump backwards. Kaiba simply glared and worried where Kia was at that moment in time.

 

* * *

 

Bakura entered the room during their third class of the day, flinging open the door and gaining everyone’s attention from the loud ‘bang’ it made hitting the wall behind it.  Even Kaiba looked up to see the source of the noise, his deep contemplation on Kia’s whereabouts halted. Kaiba studied Bakura’s unkempt white hair, untied and let loose around his figure, the shadows cast across his face and decided that this was bad. _Very_ bad. He reminded him of when Ryou went crazy during Battle City… When Bakura looked up at the sound of Téa’s voice, Kaiba could clearly see his malicious smile and the crimson in his irises. "Ryou, are you alright?" Téa had decided to ask, despite the fact that he was quite obviously _not_ alright.

Bakura turned toward her, his smile growing in size. "Your annoying voice brings back so many memories..." He sighed happily, baring his teeth. Téa stood and moved toward him, a hand outstretched to see if her friend was alright. The teacher stood and addressed Bakura, demanding that he explain himself.

It happened again. Yugi could feel that something wasn’t right. It felt almost like… Atem was back with him. Again. Staring at Téa and her outstretched hand, Bakura smiling maliciously at the teacher… If Yugi hadn’t known any better, he would have sworn that Atem was warning him about Bakura. He quickly stood and grabbed Téa’s arm, dragging her backwards and away from harm’s reach.

She stumbled, looking at him in shock. "Stay away from him! It's Thief King Bakura!" His whispered cry made Tristan, Joey and Duke stand, bracing themselves for action. Asking Yugi what they should do, they kept a watchful eye on Bakura as he ordered the teacher to stand against the wall.

“Yugi, what’s going on?”

“I don’t know Téa, all I know is…”

“But Bakura? Like, he was banished like all de otha’ spirits Yuge. Hey, does that mean Yami’s back?”

Yugi looked down at his feet after Joey finished speaking. “I’m not sure… But he warned me about this…” Tristan asked him how so, and Yugi sighed before looking down at his desk. “I scratched the word ‘Fear’ into my desk a few days back. I think Yami sent me a message…” The group all looked down at the desk, oblivious to the students moving slowly but surely to the wall alongside their teacher.

“What does that mean? Is it an acronym?” Téa pondered this, staring down at the four letters marked into the wood. Bakura’s laugh pulled them out of their thoughts and they turned, seeing the students cowering in fear against the wall.

"That's right, fear me!" Bakura raised his arms and closed his eyes as he spoke, and Ryou’s body began to look much stronger. Yugi felt certain that Bakura was somehow drawing energy from them. Kaiba rolled his eyes at the display and grabbed his coat, meaning to leave undetected. Tristan saw him before he could even put it on and called out to him, causing the others to look in his direction.

"I'm finding Kia. I have no time for this bullshit.” Yugi opened his mouth to say something, probably about how important it was to help everyone in the school, but Kaiba cut him off. “She’s been staying at Bakura’s house.” Yugi’s face changed from annoyance to worry, and Téa stifled a gasp. Tristan grabbed his coat and stood beside Kaiba, much to his disgust.

"I'll help Kaiba. Who knows where she could be. Yugi, Joey, keep Bakura occupied." The boys nodded and Kaiba scoffed, frowning with contempt at the brown haired man beside him.

His eyes narrowed as he muttered; "Saving her won't help you into her pants..." Tristan frowned at the snipe, pissed that Kaiba would say such a thing. He didn’t want to help Kia just so she would go out with him; he wanted to help because he was worried for her. Duke moved toward Kaiba slightly, finger pointed at him crudely.

His signature smirk appeared on his face. "I guess that’s reserved for you, huh?" Kaiba managed a smirk in response to his comment, a mocking tone lifting his voice.

"You sound jealous." And with that, he turned and strode out of the room. Tristan saluted his friends and ducked out behind Kaiba, mindful of Bakura behind him. He saw Kaiba getting into his Lamborghini, and jogged over to him.

“I’ll cover the park and the arcade. You see if she’s at Bakura’s place.” Kaiba nodded mutely before closing the door and speeding off, leaving Tristan in a cloud of dust. He sprinted over to his motorbike and started the engine, before securing his helmet. Then he took off, heading toward the park. He felt confident that he would find Kia somewhere in the city. She couldn’t possibly be at home, could she?

Less than two miles away from the school, around the corner from the arcade, Tristan’s phone vibrated in his pocket. He pulled over quickly and cut the engine, taking it out and answering the call. "TRISTAN!" He flinched at the severity of Joey’s tone. "Bakura’s moving us, we-" His voice suddenly cut off.

Tristan turned around and headed straight back to the school.

 

* * *

 

Back at Domino High, Bakura had moved all the students and faculty into the gymnasium. Yugi, Téa, Joey and Duke were doing their best to distract him, by asking questions that he felt the need to answer. “What do you want from us?!” Téa’s shrill voice rang out across the noisy room, and Bakura smiled cruelly at her.

“I will soon have enough souls in one place to offer to Zorc, in return for this world!” And he began to laugh. Like a maniac. Some girl began to scream like crazy somewhere in the gym, and Bakura barked unmercifully for her to shut up. Joey had taken his phone out and rang Tristan, in the process of telling him where they were when Bakura noticed.

Moving quickly, he smacked the phone from Joey’s hand and watched as it broke into pieces on the hard floor. "Pay attention!" he commanded. "My energy grows every second, the fear and sadness that _she_ provides excels that of these pitiful mortals..." Everyone puzzled at that. _She_?

Yugi tried to think of who Bakura was talking about. He was talking about a girl. A _girl_ was giving him _strength_? The more he thought of it, he realised that his feeling of uncertainty had started when Kia first moved here. And Kaiba mentioned that she was staying with Bakura…

Two and two came together, making four, and Yugi took out his own phone in a rush. Bakura had said her _fear_ and _suffering_ gave him power, so Kia was feeding him inadvertently. His fingers were barely able to touch the right letters on the screen as he messaged her, hoping to get to her before it was too late.


	13. Revelation

Pulling into Bakura’s driveway, Kaiba stood out of the car and left the door wide open, before it had even stopped moving. He made light work of the front door, fiddling with the lock for a few seconds and made his way inside. Checking the ground floor and finding nothing, he jogged upstairs and found that her room was left in a state. Clothes were strewn around the floor carelessly, her bedsheets balanced precariously on the bed, the window left open…

The next room was even more confusing. Large wires, much like those used at Kaiba Corp. littered the floor, with Kaiba making out the faint stain of a large ovular item that had once sat in the middle of the room. Taking out his phone, he didn’t realise Tristan was on his way back to the school, and assumed he was still looking in public areas for Kia, becoming irritated at the fact that neither he nor Tristan had found her.

Making his way back to his car, he sat into the driver’s side and clenched the steering wheel. Where was she? Should he have asked Bakura? Should he message Yugi and have him ask Bakura? His knuckles became white with the force of his fingers on the wheel. He didn’t need help from _them_.

Looking down at the time on his car’s dashboard, he growled and sighed, rubbing his hands on his face. He was running out of time. The orphanage popped into his mind, and he idly wondered if she was there. Driving back over there, the dilapidated building was as run-down as ever, the front door swinging on its hinges. When Kaiba approached, a small note on the door read ‘Temporary Move’ and he cursed, throwing the door backwards and walking inside.

It smelt of mould, and disuse. And memories. He bit his tongue as he focused on why he was here, who he was here for. Looking all around the ground floor rooms, which was the kitchen, living room and dining room, he made his way upstairs. The bedrooms were all empty, and he came across the room he and Mokuba had once stayed in. The beds were the same, as were the mattresses, and the dirty wallpaper that haunted many of his dreams was peeling from the wall.

The little chessboard in the corner made him frown; that very chessboard he had used to defeat Gozaburo Kaiba, and open the world of pain for himself and Mokuba. Shaking his head, he walked away from the room, leaving the memories behind. And then he realised he had searched everywhere in the building, to no avail. Wait, didn’t Kia say she went upstairs to the attic at times? Was she up there now? Hiding away from the world?

He found the small trap-door in the narrow hallway and pulled on the rope slowly, dust and spider-webs falling from the space above. The stairs that fell out easily from the attic seemed sturdy enough as Kaiba walked up slowly, uncertain of what he should expect to find. At the top of the stairs was a door, and behind that door there were sounds. Distressed sounds. Kaiba wasted no time in opening the lock and moving inside, finding Kia in Bakura’s virtual pod.

He rushed over and stopped the simulation, taking a moment to see what was happening. He felt nauseous at the thought that she was experiencing him _hurting_ her. That was something he would never do. After halting the simulation, he carefully took her barely conscious body from the pod, holding her close and inspecting her exhausted state. Should he bring her to a hospital? Perhaps he shouldn’t… She didn’t like attention. And she was exhausted, which was nothing a little sleep couldn’t help.

He brought her out to his car and gently laid her into the passenger seat, securing her safety belt and running a hand over her face. Her skin brightened slightly at the contact, and Kaiba almost smirked at her response. Driving her to his home, he ignored the dark shadow that now loomed over Domino High, as Bakura attempted to summon Zorc into this world.  

 

**~*~*~ Dream ~*~*~**

She wasn’t sure where she was, but it felt like she was standing outside. Kaiba had put a blindfold on her after having her sit in a chair in his dining room for what felt like hours, cutting her pale skin in several places along her arms and thighs. And before that, he had scalded her with boiling water, and lit a match and pressed it to her skin repeatedly. Some of her hair was gone, the bald patches on her head hissing in pain at the light wind that blew over her. Her hands and legs were bound, meaning she couldn’t move anywhere, or pull off the blindfold. She knew this wasn’t right. She couldn’t _still_ be dreaming. Something was horrifically wrong.

As soon as she began to speculate, she heard heavy footsteps falling onto small stones. They _were_ outside. Her whole body trembled when he came closer, thrusting a hand into the remains of her hair and grabbing a fistful of her once long locks. His foot connected with the back of her legs and she fell to her knees with a groan.

There was an audible click as he pointed something round and metal at her head. Taking in a deep breath, she waited for him to pull the trigger of the gun she knew he was holding. The blindfold was suddenly yanked off, crudely, making her squeak at the sudden light that burned her unadjusted eyes and pulling more of her hair from her head. Kaiba’s hand in her hair pulled her backwards and the barrel of the gun was suddenly in her face.

The world went black.

**~*~*~**

 

When Kia next opened her eyes, she knew something was different. Her vision was blurred, and her depth perception was way off, but she could feel that this wasn’t her bed. Turning over to see if she could find a clue as to where she was, she realised that the clothes she was wearing were not the clothes she had on earlier. These felt like satin.

A hand on her face alerted her to someone else’s presence, and she flinched, moving backwards and rubbing her eyes simultaneously. “Relax. It’s me.” That soothing voice at first calmed her, then caused her panic when she realised who it belonged to. Seto Kaiba. Opening her eyes, she was finally able to see him, sitting in a chair beside the bed, watching her warily. “How do you feel?” His question made no sense to her. How was she supposed to feel? After he had gone and done so much to hurt her?

She opened her mouth to speak but found that her throat was too dry. Kaiba was on his feet like a shot, fetching a jug of water and a glass, offering her a quick sip. It moved slowly down her deprived throat, soothing the burn that was caused by dehydration. He smirked at her satisfied expression, allowing her a little more and then helping her to sit upright. She looked around the blue room, taking in the hues of blues and silvers.

Realisation hit her and her eyes widened. She was in Kaiba’s room. She turned toward him and croaked out a sentence, wondering what was going on. “What’s going on? What am I doing here?” She was so confused. First, she was at Bakura’s house. Then she was in Kaiba’s mansion. And now, she was in his bedroom. Kaiba sighed and looked down, taking on of her hands in his own.

Her arms. Her _hair_. She quickly reached a hand up to her head and found her hair to be completely intact. A quick look over her arms confirmed that she was completely unharmed, which confused her all the more. If she wasn’t experiencing dreams of Kaiba, (She knew that because dreams are never that long) then what was she experiencing? Was it real? Or was she going crazy?

Kaiba cleared his throat and made to speak, his hand still clasping hers. "Bakura was using one of Kaiba Corp.’s Virtual Reality pods to create scenarios in which I hurt or kill you.” Kia’s face paled. She looked down at the bed, deep in thought. Why would Ryou do something like this? “Also…” She faced him again. “Yugi sent you a text message.”

He had the phone in his hand, extending it to her and she took it gratefully. Finding the message, she read over it and frowned in confusion. ‘ _Kia, its Yugi. Thief King Bakura is back and I think he’s using your fear to keep him alive. I want you to be brave. Don’t be afraid_.’

Kaiba read it too, and raised an eyebrow in response. “Yugi thinks it’s your fault that Bakura is acting crazy again. Figures.” Kia looked down in discomfort, ignoring Kaiba as he sighed with frustration. "But why would he abuse you like this? I went through the records on his machine and found that he was looking through your memories before creating the virtual reality..." Kaiba grunted as he thought it over.

Kia stealthily moved a leg out from under the duvet and tried to take her hand from Kaiba’s grasp. His hand tightened, and his frown made her uncomfortable. "I should go, thank you for helping me..." He shook his head, pulling her toward him and grasping her shoulder. He meant to have her lie back down, but as the satin pyjamas she was wearing belonged to him, they were too big and revealed her slight shoulder. His skin brushed against hers and she blushed, looking away from him.

He smirked at her reaction to him, telling her to lie back down and to rest. “There’s no need for you to leave Kia.” As he made her lie back down in the bed, his smirk grew and he dropped his head so that he was looking up at her through his bangs. “You seem a little warm anyway.” She blushed more, and refused to look at him. His finger on her chin moved her face toward him and he looked deep into light blue eyes. “Are you afraid of me?”

Her eyes closed, and she trembled. His hand dropped from her face, but his other hand still held hers. “That simulation wasn’t real, Kia. I wouldn’t hurt you.” She smiled sadly, her eyes opening to look at him.

"It’s not just because of that…” She looked away from him, the blush on her face darkening as she prepared herself to admit her crush.  "I… I think I like you." Her whisper made Kaiba smirk, and she continued speaking in a rush, oblivious to his approaching face. “You probably think I’m just a stupid fangirl, or that I’m up to something, but I’m not, I sw-“

Kaiba’s lips connected with hers once again, and her eyes widened in shock.


	14. Bakura Falls

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I don't think these last few chapters were salvageable without the fluff.

While Kaiba was tending to Kia in his home, Bakura had been sending the student’s souls to the Shadow Realm. Yugi and the others watched in despair as the purple-black cloud descended upon Domino High, oblivious to the silver Lamborghini passing by. One by one, he shouted his glee as the students rose up into the haze, their bodies moving in contorted twists as their lives were drained and the empty vessels that were once theirs dropped to the ground with a dull thud.

Bakura allowed for one student at a time, seemingly enjoying the display he was creating. “You there!” He pointed to Yugi, Téa, Joey and Duke, during the sacrifice of the other students. “You shall stay in that corner until I demand your presence…” He trailed off, frowning at their group. “Where is the other one? With the odd brown hair?”

Yugi and the others looked down, denying any knowledge of another person in their group of friends. Bakura motioned for another male student to step forward and his body was snatched up, as Bakura continued to stare at Yugi and the others.

Tristan was in the air vents, watching through a grate high on the gymnasium wall at the scene before him. After reaching the front doors and finding them locked, he went around the side and climbed the fire escape onto the roof. From there, he found an open air vent and wormed his way inside. Sending a quick message to Domino Police, Tristan found his way into the ventilation system for the gymnasium. He gasped in shock when he saw the students’ lifeless bodies littering the floor, but was even more concerned for his friends who seemed to be unharmed for the moment. He wiggled a little in the tight space, trying to see around the metal bars more clearly.

There was a clap of thunder, and a strange lilac lightening in the room, after the last student fell to the floor. Tristan watched as a black hole opened in the cloud on the ceiling, and a black creature emerged from the density, surrounded by a dark purple cloud. He had a large mouth with prominent teeth; large horns pointing from his forehead; huge, black wings bursting from his back; and an extra head protruding from his crotch. Tristan puzzled over this, the image of Zorc Necrophades in the school gymnasium a little overwhelming for him.

The extra head suddenly looked up at the vent where Tristan was hiding, snarling at the hidden student. Bakura barked out an evil laugh, crossing his arms and facing the forlorn group smugly. “I knew there was someone missing.”

They knew it was too late. It wasn’t like they could challenge him to a duel anymore; that was over and done with. Yugi looked down at his hands and cried out in despair, cursing himself for not understanding Atem’s message sooner. He briefly wondered if Kia had gotten his text message at all, but considering he had sent it nearly an hour ago with no reply, he doubted it. Squeezing his eyes shut, he waited as Tristan was escorted down to their group of friends and placed a hand on his back, glad to see he was safe. “Did you or Kaiba find Kia?”

Tristan closed his eyes, rubbing the back of his head awkwardly. “I came straight back as soon as Joey called. I didn’t see her anywhere near the park or the arcade…” Yugi sighed and scuffed his shoe on the ground. In front of them, another student moved forward into the haze and was dragged upwards.  Their life was sucked from them and entered Zorc, his aura glowing with the new addition to his collection of souls.

Bakura suddenly let out a yell, falling to the ground and clutching his chest in anguish. “No! My power! She’s failing me!” Zorc frowned at him, his face contorting with the same pain that Bakura was experiencing. Realisation hit Yugi, and he smiled in triumph.

“It’s working! Kia got my message!” The others looked to him in surprise as Bakura groaned on the floor, burning from the inside out. “Kia is his source of power! Her happiness takes his power away!” Joey opened his mouth to respond to this, but was halted by a shout from Bakura.

“No! I _am_ worthy! My energy is being drained! I… I can…” He gripped his head in anguish, screaming in agony. “No! Don’t!” Yugi, Téa, Joey, Duke and Tristan all watched as Zorc approached Bakura, plucking him from his position on the floor and snarling at him. They couldn’t understand what that meant, but they assumed it was speaking to Bakura, as Bakura yelled profanities and continued to inform it that _he was worthy_.

A deep voice boomed from the beast, but its mouth never moved. “You. Are. Not. Worthy.” And with that, it threw Bakura to the ground and flew up into the haze, disappearing into the purple depths. Lilac beams of light shot down onto the discarded students from where it disappeared to, and they each sat up and shook their heads in amazement.

Bakura was left unconscious on the gymnasium floor as police and paramedics swept into the building several minutes later.

 

* * *

 

Kia didn’t know how to react to Kaiba’s lips as they moved against hers gently; his tongue suddenly brushing against her lower lip, taking her by surprise. Her lips parted slightly, and Kaiba’s hand found its way into her hair as his tongue met hers, making her panic even more. It wasn’t that the kiss was boring; it was the complete opposite of that. It filled her with a warm, gooey feeling, and had she not been feeling self-conscious, she would have happily reciprocated. But one question was bouncing around in her timid mind; what was she _doing_? Or rather, what was she _not_ doing?

Kaiba felt her hesitation, and he pulled back slightly, his face still close to hers. He combed his fingers through her hair, comforting her as she blushed. “Stop panicking.” She turned away, unsure of what to do. Kaiba took both her hands in his, and instructed for her to face him. “Look at me, Kia.” Uncertain, she looked up through her bangs, unable to face him fully. The smirk on his face returned as she did, and she blushed even more.

Her hands loosened in his grip, her eyes dropping as she whispered; “Why?” Kaiba tilted his head, and instructed for her to elaborate. “Why do you tolerate me? Why did you come to find me? Why do you care if I’m afraid of you?” Kaiba sighed at her questions, looking away from her, and Kia’s heart dropped. What if he walked away? Guys don’t usually appreciate when girls don’t respond to their advances, and her reaction could almost be considered hostile

She compared this kiss to their first, when she thought he was proving a point. It was a short kiss, and Kia had panicked then too. Kaiba didn’t seem to be fazed that time though, so why was he becoming stressed now? Why did he kiss her this time?

Unless…

Was it in response to her admission? Was he admitting his own sort of crush? His own interest? He had told her that she intrigued him, but she didn’t realise _how_ she intrigued him. Studying his blank expression, she held her breath as she waited.

“You intrigue me.” His voice was soft, gentle. Kia’s eyebrows rose and waited patiently for him to continue. “You’re intelligent. You’re inquisitive. You don’t irritate me.” He turned to face her, his hands still holding hers. His eyes flickered to her shoulder, still exposed, and he smirked. “And as you before stated, I enjoy looking at you.” Kia blushed and looked down at her hands, enclosed in his.

“But you could have anybody else. You’re popular enough that you could have celebrities as partners…” Kaiba frowned at that. Clearly, Kia wasn’t seeing something. Something very important.

“I don’t want a celebrity clinging to my side, using my status to their advantage. I want you.” As soon as the words left his mouth, Kaiba looked away from her, unsure of himself. There was an awkward silence between them for a short while, neither one certain of what they should say.

Kia finally broke the silence. “I… Should get going… I need to get my things back from Bakura’s house and go back to the orphanage…” She rubbed her arm nervously, taking her hand from Kaiba’s grasp as she did. Kaiba looked up at the ceiling with interest.

“The orphanage is closed. They said the move was temporary, but with the condition the building was in, I’m sure it won’t be reopening anytime soon.” Kia gasped in panic, unsure of what to do. Should she contact them and arrange another move? Should she try to find somewhere to stay here in Domino? “I already sent someone to get your possessions from Bakura’s house. They’re here, in a spare room…”

Kia said nothing. Her mind was elsewhere, thoughts of moving back to Tokyo foremost on her mind. What should she do? When she looked up from the duvet, she noticed Kaiba’s intense gaze. It unnerved her. “What?” Now she felt self-conscious.

Kaiba clicked his tongue before replying. “You’re welcome to stay here.” She stared at him. Again, she was doubting that this was the real Seto Kaiba. Since when does he offer to let people stay at his home? At her look of disbelief, he smirked and continued speaking. “I usually get what I want. And I want you. So unless you object to that, I _insist_ that you stay.” She giggled at him, earning herself a smug smirk.

She shook her head in mock irritation, a smile on her pretty face. “You won’t take no for an answer?” Kaiba smirked and leaned in, bringing his lips to hers once more. He was pleasantly surprised when she kissed back, and his hands moved to her hair and face, holding her close as he explored her. It was at this point that Kia no longer panicked. She was no longer afraid of Kaiba, or her feelings.

They were reciprocated. And Bakura had fallen.


	15. Epilogue

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So sorry for the delay in posting. College is stressful at the moment, as is work.   
> I'll have to completely rewrite the sequel to this story, it's a right mess. It's strange how the original storyline I wanted to create remains in my mind after so long, this story was written nearly four years ago now.   
> Thank you ever so much for reading this to the end! And the kudos are very much appreciated!   
> Much love! x

Kaiba received an email from Ishizu Ishtar some few months later, a while after his and Kia’s relationship had been made public. Initially, Kia had wanted to remain anonymous and hide away from the paparazzi, but after several instances where images of Kaiba with other women were produced and released, he was quick to step in and introduce her formally to the world. Kia didn’t appreciate the photoshopped images, and had as many copies of those magazines and newspapers taken back as possible.

Kaiba brought Kia to the Domino Museum the day after he received the email. Ishizu was attending the museum on business for a few days, and had asked if he could bring Kia to a private exhibit. It was a quiet Friday evening, toward the beginning of summer, when the sun was at its brightest but didn’t quite heat the land. Kia followed Kaiba diligently, his hand holding hers in reassurance, as they entered the old building and asked for Ms. Ishtar.

When they finally reached the correct room, Ishizu gasped at Kia while she walked into the room, and held out her hand immediately. “It is a pleasure to see you in the flesh. My name is Ishizu Ishtar. I work as an archaeologist, of sorts…” Kaiba frowned at her eagerness to speak with his partner, but said nothing. Kia responded in a similar manner, shaking her hand and smiling politely.

Behind Ishizu was a large rock, similar to the one she had shown Kaiba during Battle City. He sighed and brought a hand to his forehead at the memory, shaking his head in frustration. “Why are we here, Ishtar?” Kia was used to his cold, toneless voice, and apparently so was Ishizu. Her narrow blue eyes narrowed even more, her sun-kissed skin looking flawless as she turned fully toward Kia.

Her voice was accented slightly, and sultry, and Kia idly wondered where she was from. “I have reason to believe that you are a woman from ancient times, Kia Boulevard. More specifically from Ancient _Egyptian_ times.” Kia raised her eyebrows at the news, wonder appearing on her face.

“How do you mean?” Her question was met with a dissatisfied frown from Ishizu, and she turned toward Kaiba with a pained expression on her features.

“You have not told her?” Kaiba met her frown, his own eyes holding disinterest. His hands quickly dropped into his pockets, his stance almost (Almost, but not quite) lazy, as he appraised Ishizu and drawled in reply.

“Told her what?” He really didn’t see the point of being there. Secretly, he was hoping that Kia would be as unimpressed as he was with Ishizu’s ‘insights’ and would ask to leave. Instead, she seemed to be interested to hear what Ishizu had to say though, something that Kaiba rolled his eyes at.

Ishizu clicked her tongue at his demeanour, clasping her hands delicately in front of her. “You have not told her of your involvement in the ancient past.” Kaiba sighed and shook his head, mumbling about it being utter nonsense. “It is not ‘utter nonsense’ Kaiba. It seems as though you and Kia shared a life in the past.”

At this, Kaiba faced her again. Kia was already paying attention to Ishizu, and both waited for her to continue. When she didn’t, Kia spoke up. “We shared a life? What does that mean?”

Ishizu allowed a small smile to grace her features, before turning around to the large rock behind her. “This was found in the tomb of High Priest Set, deep inside one of the walls within the tomb. Its discovery was accidental; we had no intention of searching this particular area, but an amateur archaeologist continued to dig there.” She walked around it as she spoke, admiring the ancient relic in awe. “It shows the High Priest embracing another young woman, a woman other than his lover.

“But it becomes apparent that this _is_ his lover. A child stands…” Halting in her appraisal of the rock, she reached out a tender hand and pointed between the two blurry figures. “Here…” Ishizu’s voice became softer as she did this, her pupils dilating in response to the girly figure engraved into the golden stone.

Kia moved forward and looked closely at the engraving, the faint scratchings of an ancient people barely visible to the naked eye. She squinted and made out long hair on the smaller figure between the two taller ones, assuming the child to be a daughter.

“We have found no evidence of a tomb or grave for her as of yet. She remains a mystery…” Ishizu stopped talking and looked at Kia. “Kazuko; that was her name.”

Kia stiffened at the name. A powerful emotion boiled up inside of her, a rush of emotions she had never experienced in such a potent quantity before; fear, pain, guilt, and anguish. And only one face came to mind as she felt all these emotions at once; Kaiba’s. She turned to face him, seeing a similarly confused and pained expression on his face as he appraised her.

Facing Ishizu again, Kia raised a sceptical eyebrow. “So if no more evidence of this woman has been found, then how do _you_ know so much about her? And how do you know I am her incarnate?”  Kaiba suppressed a smirk at his girlfriend’s scepticism, realising that his earlier hope might still occur.

Ishizu sighed and looked down at her clasped hands, resting neatly at her waist. “There is something else I must discuss with you, Kaiba.” Kia glared when Ishizu seemingly ignored her question. “I took the liberty of making replicas of the Millennium Items.”

Kaiba took a step forward. “You did what?” His frustration was building once again; “Those things caused us hell last year! Or do you remember what happened?” His last question was a definite snipe at the Egyptian, who continued to look down at her hands. Kia wanted to complain that she had been completely ignored, when Ishizu looked up.

“Yugi asked for me to help him. The loss of the Pharaoh caused him a world of pain, and he sought comfort. I saw no harm in recreating the puzzle for him, until… I made a replica of my necklace.” Pulling down on the high collar of her dress, she revealed the golden necklace with its large eye, the severity of its gaze unnerving Kia.

Kaiba’s hand found its way to Kia’s waist and hugged her to him comfortably, irritated with the realism in the replica. “And there’s a problem? Of course there is…” Kia winced at the harshness in his tone, while Ishizu simply sighed.

“I have seen events and people that I would not ordinarily see.” Allowing the collar to cover the necklace again, Ishizu looked straight into Kia’s eyes and stated, in a level tone of voice; “I have seen your death.”

Kaiba made a noise similar to a growl and pulled Kia so that she was standing just behind him. “The fuck is that supposed to mean?!” Kia broke free from Kaiba’s grasp, moving so that she stood slightly in front of him, much to his aggravation.

“Tell me.” The lump that formed in Kia’s throat was unusual; she didn’t believe this mad woman, did she? Would this woman tell her exactly how she dies? Her last few days on this earth? Would she be young or old?

Ishizu brushed her fingers across the necklace, closing her eyes. “There is no blood, no fluids. It is a white room scented with flowers. You are lying in a bed. Peacefully. You do not breathe. You do not feel. Someone’s hand caresses yours…” Her eyes opened. “That is all I am privy to see.”

 

* * *

 

Mokuba had friends over to the house later that week. And while Kaiba was away working, Kia was in charge of the mansion. It was Saturday afternoon, and the chef and the maids had all been given the weekend off. Kia was lazily throwing a baking tray of biscuits into the oven, realising that she had a slight passion for cooking. She had already made Mokuba and his friend lasagne, which they both thoroughly enjoyed, and was now making some biscuits for them to snack on in Mokuba’s bedroom.

Kaiba had promised to be home earlier than usual, so Kia was expecting him at any minute. Setting a timer for the oven, she moved out into the front foyer and was about to walk into the living room when a sudden memory jarred her senses.

Her younger brother had red hair.

 


End file.
